Appeals Court Tosses Malpractice Verdict Against Seyfarth Shaw
A California appeals court has overturned a malpractice judgment against Seyfarth Shaw that was won by a fitness instructor who sued the firm over a missed deadline.
The Court of Appeal said a judge had erred in rulings on behalf of the plaintiff, Tae Bo promoter Billy Blanks, according to the Daily Journal (sub. req.) and the Metropolitan News-Enterprise. The Daily Journal said Blanks and his wife were awarded $38.3 million in the original judgment, while the News-Enterprise reported that Blanks received $30 million.
Blanks had hired Seyfarth Shaw to sue his former agent and manager for $10.6 million in fees and royalties he paid even though the manager was not a licensed talent agent. State law requires such complaints to be filed with the state labor commissioner, but Seyfarth filed in state court. As a result, Blanks did not file his claim in the required venue within a one-year statute of limitations period, the stories say.
The firm and partner William Lancaster contend the suit was filed in state court so discovery could be conducted and the former manager could be deposed. Lancaster also said he believed believed the filing tolled the limitations period.
A trial judge refused to allow most testimony on the reasons for the state court filing, the News-Enterprise story says. The judge held the firm and Lancaster were negligent as a matter of law in a ruling on a pretrial motion.
The appeals court said the negligence determination should have been made by a jury or in a separate hearing, according to the Daily Journal.
The judge also should have instructed jurors that Blanks may not have received the full $10.6 million in fees he sought from the former manager even if the case had been filed with the labor commissioner, the Daily Journal story says.
