The firm represented the general contractor relating to a contract balance and claim by the school district that a second floor concrete deck was not built to the contract requirements. The firm’s client settled with its concrete subcontractor allowing the subcontractor to prosecute the claim for its subcontract balance directly against the District. However, when the District cross-complained, the firm was re-engaged to challenge the pleading by the District. With the firm’s special motion to strike the cross-complaint pursuant to California’s Anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation) statute pending, the case was settled in mediation for a payment by the District to the firm’s client for more than 50 percent more than the firm’s client had offered to accept from the District four years earlier.
Ventura Superior Court Case No. 56-2012-00414736-CU-BC-VTA
Counsel: P. Randolph Finch Jr. and Andrea L. Petray