Sheipe v Bander

Mr. Horwitz defended an attorney accused of infliction of emotional distress on the opposing party. His client was less than kind to a deponent during a contentious deposition, and the defendant deponent filed an action against the attorney. As a courtesy to his client, and knowing there was a strong likelihood of prevailing on an anti-SLAPP motion, which has an attorney fee award to the prevailing defendant, Mr. Horwitz agreed to accept payment from the attorney fee award. The anti-SLAPP motion was granted by the trial court, and upheld by the Court of Appeal. As predicted, attorneys fee were awarded by the trial court for the work performed at both the trial and appellate levels.

The plaintiff, now a judgment debtor, made significant efforts to hide his assets, and hinder collection at every turn. Mr. Horwitz had to amend the judgment four times as new aliases were discovered. Additional attorney’s fees were awarded with each new judgment. During this time, Mr. Horwitz’ client filed for bankruptcy protection. Mr. Horwitz negotiated an agreement with the bankruptcy trustee over his superior right to the judgment, and was engaged by the bankruptcy trustee to collect the judgment. When sufficient assets were discovered to satisfy the judgment, Mr. Horwitz filed the necessary paperwork which brought the judgment debtor to the table. A small discount was given in order to secure immediate payment on the fee awards.