Escondido, CA
Consumer protection Lawyer at Escondido, CA
Practice Areas: Consumer Protection, Lemon Law, Personal Injury
OUTCOME: Affirmed
Client was tricked into purchasing an accident damaged vehicle. I took the case and after extensive litigation the client's money was refunded and loan canceled in a settlement. The settlement included ... attorney fees by motion. The trial court awarded 100% of the attorney fees and costs. Westlake Services unsuccessfully appealed.
OUTCOME: Affirmed
2021 WL 302885 In 2018 the Court of Appeals in Lafferty v. Wells Fargo ruled that Holders (finance companies) were not required to pay attorney fees above the cap in the Holder Clause contained in ve ... hicle purchase contracts. In 2019 I, along with many others, helped get a new law passed by the California Legislature that legislatively reversed Lafferty. In 2020 the Court of Appeals in Spikener v. Ally Financial ruled the new law was preempted by FTC commentary from 2019 and held that we could not recover attorney fees above the Holder cap. The Court of Appeal, in Pulliam v. HNL Automotive, Inc., reevaluated Lafferty and Spikener and found that both were incorrect. The Pulliam court held that we could recover attorney fees from the Holder without limitation. The Pulliam court affirmed our award of attorney fees against the finance company (which included 1.2 multiplier). This is a huge win for consumers because it makes these cases financially possible.