Hadley v. Cochran Firm
Plaintiffs Theresa Theus, Jeffrey Gray, Anthony Hadley, Albert Noble, Daniel Pittman, Donte Rhea, Steven Green, and Willie Williams[1] sued The Cochran Firm, and Attorneys Daniel H. Cargnelutti and Brian Dunn (defendants) alleging causes of action for negligence, breach of fiduciary duties, and fraud arising from defendants’ representation of plaintiffs in a lawsuit against their employer, Parsec, Inc. Plaintiffs claim that defendants tricked them into settling their claims against Parsec by inducing them to sign a supposed confidentiality agreement at a mediation, and later appending the signature sheet to a settlement agreement.
The trial court granted defendants’ motion in limine to dismiss the complaint, concluding that because the alleged deception occurred during a mediation, the mediation confidentiality provisions of the Evidence Code prevented plaintiffs from proving their claims. (See, e.g., Evid. Code, § 1119.) On appeal, plaintiffs claim that because they did not intend to settle their claims at the mediation, this action is not “mediation related†and is therefore not barred by section 1119. They also claim that an attorney should not be permitted to commit fraud and avoid liability by “[hiding] behind the Mediation privilege.†Alternatively, plaintiffs claim that mediation confidentiality was waived. We find no merit in plaintiffs’ arguments and affirm.
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