News and Events
Mark L. Share moderates 2011 Breakfast with the Judges - Prejudgment Remedies (Injunctions, Writs of Attachment, and Receiverships)
Mark L. Share, a past Chair of the Executive Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, again moderated the program Breakfast with the Experts - Prejudgment Remedies. Judges and Commissioners in the prejudgment remedies departments of the Los Angeles County Superior Court offered tips for attorneys and receivers regarding injunctions, writs of attachment and possession, and receiverships. Speakers included Judges Ann Jones, James Chalfant, Barbara Meiers, and Commissioner Matthew St. George. Moderated by Mark L. Share.
Mr. Share's practice emphasizes litigation and business issues. His complex litigation practice includes representing clients in state and federal courts and arbitrations in business and other disputes. He counsels commercial and residential property owners, business entities, and executives. He is admitted to practice in the United States Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit, the United States District Courts for all districts of California, and the State of California.
De Castro, West Senior Counsel Headlines Real Estate Seminar
Michael Abrams Addresses Local Bar on Options to Foreclosure
The San Fernando Valley Bar Association Conference Center was recently the site of De Castro, Wests latest educational presentation. The seminar featured Michael S. Abrams, Senior Counsel with the Firm, explaining options in the face of possible foreclosure.
Mr. Abrams' presentation was to an overflow crowd, including both substantial pre-sales and extensive on-site registration. Attendees included attorneys and business persons from the Greater Los Angeles area.
"Many practitioners are faced with clients in danger of foreclosure," Mr. Abrams said. "But there are a number of options available that some practitioners are not aware of."
Mr. Abrams reviewed recent changes to California law, in both the Civil Code and Code of Civil Procedure, and the effects of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, widely known as the "Bail-Out." Then he turned to a number of safe and well-established options for commercial and residential owners concerned about continued payments on their obligations.
"There are at least a half-dozen alternatives that counsel and clients should consider when a party is concerned about making mortgage payments," Mr. Abrams, who graduated magna cum laude in 1981 from Northwestern University Law School, said. "Many attorneys are not familiar with the variety of options for owners in these situations."
Mr. Abrams' presentation included analyses of reinstatement, forbearance, and repayment plans. And mortgage modification is another possibility, he said, along with sale, pre-foreclosure sale, short sale, and offering the lender a deed in lieu of foreclosure.
"In some situations, property owners can get a qualified buyer to assume the obligation," he said. "Counsel and clients should not overlook this very viable option."
The speech included an exploration of the use of receivers when property is in danger of foreclosure, and bankruptcy alternatives for owners. This touched on the property owner's options under Chapters &, 11, and 13 of the bankruptcy law.
Mr. Abrams earned a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Chicago in 1977. He earned his Juris Doctorate four years later in 1981 from Northwestern Law School, where he was a member of the editorial board for the schools law review. At Northwestern, he earned academic distinction and was awarded the Order of the Coif. Mr. Abrams focuses his practice primarily on real estate and corporate transactions, bankruptcy and complex business litigation.
Bringing the Past into the Present
De Castro, West Senior Trial Lawyer Judianne Jaffe Wins Lengthy Probate Fight
After months of protracted legal wrangling coming from her opponents, De Castro, West partner Judianne Jaffe won a complete victory in probate court. The case involved an intestate (no will) estate of some considerable value.
The deceased, Cindy Cameron, was 85 years old when she passed away in 2006. She had been an actress and real estate investor.
"We prevailed on summary judgment in the estate matter, where Cameron's cousin sought to be the executor and an intestate heir based on being Cameron's equitably adopted' sister," Ms. Jaffe says. "We established that equitable adoption was not recognized in the state of Kansas where the so-called adoption in 1935 would have taken place."
De Castro, West represented Miss Cameron's niece and two grand-nieces against Miss Cameron's first cousin. The cousin claimed she was Miss Cameron's rightful heir. She demanded priority of appointment as executor, asserting she was Miss Cameron's "equitably adopted" sister. The cousin based this claim on the fact that Miss Cameron's widowed father married the cousin's mother (his brother's widow) in 1935. She claimed Miss Cameron's father was too poor during the Depression to legally adopt her.
"Even under California law, which recognizes equitable adoption, there must be a legal barrier that prevents formal adoption, for an equitable adoption claim to prevail," Ms. Jaffe, who focuses her practice on complex business litigation, says. "The court ruled as a matter of law that lack of money to pay for a legal adoption is not a legal barrier' under the California statute."
The cousin also claimed she was the trustee and beneficiary of a "land trust" into which Miss Cameron had placed her commercial property. However, Ms. Jaffe established that the cousin had signed a Quitclaim Deed, intending to return the property to Miss Cameron, at Miss Cameron's request.
Superior Court Judge John L. Segal ruled on the summary judgment motion regarding the alleged equitable adoption, and presided over the bench trial on the land trust issue.
"We prevailed at trial on the trust' issue," Ms. Jaffe, who tried the matter with the assistance of associates Yona Conzevoy and Sharon Nolfi, says. "The cousin claimed that she owned the real property in trust for herself as successor beneficiary, despite having signed and delivered a quitclaim deed to Miss Cameron three years before Miss Cameron's death."
The court ruled after a four-day bench trial that the quitclaim deed was intended to return all right, title and interest in the real property to Miss Cameron in her own name. The Court decided that, as a result, the real property was part of the intestate estate. In this circumstance, the land was appropriately inherited by Ms. Jaffe's clients, Miss Cameron's niece and grand-nieces.
Judianne Jaffe focuses her practice on complex business litigation and trials in the California courts, U.S. District Courts and U.S. Tax Court. She represents clients in regulatory disputes, arbitrations and judicial references. Ms. Jaffe represents North American and Pacific Rim companies from a wide variety of industries. She earned her Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Southern California Law School, Order of the Coif. In addition to the State Bar of California, Ms. Jaffe is admitted to practice before the U.S. Tax Court and
the U.S. District Court for all California districts. She can be reached at (310) 478-2541 or via e-mail at jjaffe@dwclaw.com.
De Castro, West, Chodorow, Mendler, Glickfeld & Nass provides planning and advocacy to clients in complex business transactions and litigation. The firm helps individuals, private entities and public corporations navigate the legal intricacies of both the boardroom and the courtroom through strategic counseling, innovative planning and aggressive representation. De Castro, West is a full-service law firm, handling almost every type of legal matter for nearly every kind of enterprise. For more information about De Castro, West, Chodorow, Glickfeld and Nass, call (310) 478-2541 or e-mail tray@dwclaw.com.