Soderberg v. McKinney

Outcome: Reversed in our favor on appeal; then settled.

Description: I briefed and argued the successful, published opinion in Soderberg v. McKinney, 44 Cal. App. 4th 1760, 52 Cal. Rptr. 2d 635 (1996). Soderberg established, for the first time in California, the negligence liability of licensed real estate appraisers to third party investors. The defendant's summary judgment motion had been granted by the trial court; the court of appeal reversed. The court of appeal held that a real estate appraiser is liable for the economic losses suffered by third persons who rely on misrepresentations in the appraiser’s report when that report is relied upon in the type of transaction anticipated by the appraiser or one substantially similar to it.