Judge Holds Attorney Solicited Class Members, Violated UCL, CLRA

Mealey's (March 28, 2019, 12:55 PM EDT) -- LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge on March 26 found that an attorney breached his fiduciary duty and violated California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and Consumers Legal Remedies Act (CLRA) when he solicited and paid someone a fee to organize condominium owners to pursue an underlying class action, granting judgment for the purchasers and ordering that the attorney pay them $12 million in restitution for attorney fees (James Estakhrian, et al. v. Mark Obenstine, et al., No. 11-3480, C.D. Calif., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 50828)....