Fri 24th Aug 2018, Blog, Case Successes
Bienert | Katzman recently settled all claims asserted against its client, J. Wayne Allen, in a long-running legal malpractice, fraud, and RICO case pending in the Orange County Superior Court. The settlement came after the completion of jury selection and with opening statements set to begin. The settlement amount, $1,250,000, represented less than one percent of the plaintiffs’ damages claim. In 2001, the plaintiffs – members of the Stueve family that founded Alta Dena Dairy …
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Thu 2nd Aug 2018, Blog, Case Successes
Whitney Z. Bernstein won a published decision in the Ninth Circuit reversing her client’s federal conviction for illegally re-entering the United States after deportation. In the process, she established favorable case law for defending criminal immigration cases. Whitney’s client immigrated to the United States as a lawful permanent resident (“LPR”) when he was just one month old. He lived legally in the United States for most of life until 2008 when he was stripped of …
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Fri 15th Dec 2017, Blog, Case Successes
Through a negotiated settlement and a court order, whistleblower Beverly Brown has received a total relator share award of more than $78 million for her efforts in obtaining a $280 million False Claims Act settlement against Celgene Corporation. The $280 million settlement was the second largest recovery ever recorded in a non-intervened case brought under the federal False Claims Act and the relator share award to Brown is also among the largest in history. The …
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Tue 31st May 2016, Blog, Case Successes
A federal district judge in Santa Ana, California affirmed the rulings of a bankruptcy court allowing a claim of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, as Receiver for American Sterling Bank (the “FDIC-R”) in the amount of $10 million and approving the FDIC-R’s settlement with the debtor, the former executive of a failed bank, providing for the full amount of the FDIC-R’s claim. The appellant, a third-party creditor of the debtor, objected to the settlement and …
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Fri 30th Jan 2015, Blog, Case Successes
On a motion brought by Bienert | Katzman, a federal district judge in Detroit, Michigan struck several key affirmative defenses alleged against the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, as Receiver for Washington Mutual Bank (“FDIC-R”). Citing to and adopting several of the arguments advanced by Bienert | Katzman, the Court held that the defendant’s defenses based on the FDIC-R’s alleged lack of standing to litigate and enforce the subject breach of contract claim were improper based …
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Wed 3rd Sep 2014, Blog, Case Successes
On a motion for summary judgment brought by Bienert | Katzman, a federal district judge in Miami, Florida ordered Defendant Attorneys’ Title Insurance Fund, Inc. (“ATIF”) to pay nearly $5 million to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, as Receiver for Washington Mutual Bank (“FDIC-R”) for ATIF’s failure to reimburse funds that ATIF’s closing agents had misappropriated from Washington Mutual Bank (“WaMu”) in connection with several residential real estate transactions in southern Florida. Steven Jay Katzman, Michael R. …
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Mon 28th Jul 2014, Blog, Case Successes
On July 28, 2014, Jim D. Riddet of Bienert | Katzman obtained a dismissal of all eighteen felony counts including two counts of conspiracy and 16 counts of grand theft. The client was indicted by a grand jury over 3 years ago, but Mr. Riddet was able to obtain a dismissal of that indictment. Thereafter, the District Attorney filed a felony complaint alleging additional charges. After a two-day hearing, the court accepted Mr. Riddet’s argument that all …
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Thu 27th Mar 2014, Blog, Case Successes
The Committee serves as a representative and fiduciary to the interests of the approximately 2,000 retired employees (the “Retirees”) in the City’s bankruptcy. Bienert | Katzman has zealously represented the interests of the Retirees, negotiating with the City to ensure that the Committee has a represented voice in the process, seeking clarification with the Court to confirm that a claims bar deadline is not imposed prematurely on Retirees and substantively participating in the Court ordered mediation …
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Sat 27th Jul 2013, Blog, Case Successes
Following a week-long preliminary hearing in which Jim D. Riddet of Bienert | Katzman represented a former Orange County Public Works Executive, the court dismissed eight of thirteen felony counts against his client, ruling that there was insufficient evidence to require the defendant to stand trial. Over the course of the preliminary hearing, Mr. Riddet was able to establish through cross examination of prosecution witnesses that many of the charges were not even supported by probable cause. …
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Wed 27th Feb 2013, Blog, Case Successes
A federal judge in Orange County, California, acknowledged the pressure of trying to maintain a struggling business during the economic recession of 2008 as a factor to consider in imposing sentence in a business fraud case. On February 25, 2013, U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney sentenced Cheryl Fu to 36 months based on her guilty plea to bank fraud. Government attorneys had argued for a higher sentence of 46 months in prison. Counsel for …
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