Stacie Feldman Hausner, Esq.

• The seller of a pharmacy sued to rescind a purchase agreement that sold the pharmacy for $20 million in a secured note, due to the failure of the purchaser to pay money on the note. The purchaser of the pharmacy sued for fraud, alleging that the purchase price was obtained by seller’s fraudulent representation of revenue in the reporting of PPO compounding versus workers’ compensation claims. Additionally, the son of the seller cross-complained against the purchaser for breach of an oral agreement for the purchaser to reimburse him for half a million dollars in out-of-pocket marketing expenses.
• Breach of contract case in which billing service provider for doctors alleged that client doctor breached the terms of their contract for services when he failed to timely and fully pay the 5.5% fee on amounts collected from insurance providers and Medicare/Medical, and when he then discontinued his use of plaintiff’s services for the year remaining on the contract.
• A usury case in which multiple defendants (who were individuals, not licensed financial institutions) gave plaintiff a great deal of money for business investments over the course of many years. Plaintiff argued that the payments were usurious loans at a rate of 15% interest. Individual defendants made various arguments, including, but not limited to, the loans went through an individual and that they were unaware of the 15% interest rate, and that the vague agreement did not provide for a 15% interest rate as indicated by the extrinsic evidence of a string of payments dating back numerous years.
• Plaintiff photographer sued defendant storage property owner for conversion when defendant allegedly removed and lost millions of dollars in plaintiff’s photographs from plaintiff’s leased storage unit 3 days after the expiration of her storage lease.
• Plaintiff took out a $4.6 million note from a bank to purchase a car wash. The bank sold the note to defendant (who at the time was a friend of plaintiff) for $2.6 million. Plaintiff alleged that he bought the note for $3.2 million from defendant, based upon defendant’s fraudulent representations that defendant bought the note for $3.2 million from the bank. Plaintiff sued for fraud, asking for the $600,000 defendant made on the sale of the bank not to plaintiff.

• Plaintiff and defendant entered into an oral agreement in which plaintiff invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in defendant’s businesses, including a movie production business and a business to sell gold coins in Dubai. Plaintiff alleged that defendant saw returns on the investment and managerial fees, while plaintiff never received any money on his investment.
• Contract dispute in which plaintiff alleged that he loaned several hundred thousand dollars to defendant friend and that, pursuant to an oral contract, the defendant promised to pay back a certain amount monthly plus interest. When the payments stopped, which happened relatively quickly, plaintiff sued defendant for the remaining amount.
• Breach of contract case involving a contract in which defendant agreed to restore plaintiff’s vintage car. Plaintiff alleged that defendant breached the contract by taking an unreasonable amount of time to restore the vehicle and then returning the vehicle in a state of disrepair. Defendant cross-complained for breach of contract, arguing that he incurred additional expense in trying to restore the vehicle, was not given enough time to finish the vehicle, and was required to return the vehicle without receiving full payment.
• Dispute involving a breach of contract between plaintiff vending machine company and defendant gymnastics studio. Plaintiff alleged that defendants breached the contract by failing to cancel the automatic year renewal provision in the written contract, and then removing the vending machines from the facility into storage.
• Plaintiff sued defendant for a million dollars in fraud, alleging that defendant defrauded him when he colluded with plaintiff’s girlfriend to take his money. He alleged that they encouraged him to write company checks to defendant to cash, so that defendant subsequently could give the cash to plaintiff’s girlfriend. Plaintiff also alleged that defendant wrongfully took some of that money for his own personal use. Defendant counterclaimed for breach of an oral employment contract, alleging that he provided employment services for which plaintiff never compensated him. Plaintiff claimed that defendant’s compensation solely included the perks of being part of plaintiff’s entourage.
• Plaintiff provided nurses for in-home care to defendant medical provider who needed additional assistance. Plaintiff sued defendant for breach of contract when defendant allegedly failed to make full payment pursuant to the terms of the contract.
• Plaintiff sued for breach of contract when defendant production company failed to return any of his investment into the production of a movie.
• Plaintiff sued defendant for an allegedly unfair dilution of interest in defendant’s start up company due to subsequent rounds of financing.
• Plaintiff landowner sued the mortgage company for damages resulting when the mortgage company used an allegedly adhesive and unfair contract for the extension of the mortgage.
• Plaintiff janitorial service company sued defendant apartment building owner for breach of contract with a three year term when defendant terminated the contract and use of plaintiff’s janitorial staff after 2 months of work.
• Plaintiff senior care company sued defendant family members to collect on money owed for senior care emergency services provided to their mother while she lived at an assisted living facility. Defendants argued that money was not owed because they never consented to the services and the billing constituted financial elder abuse.
• Plaintiff homeowner sued defendant home entertainment and alarm system installation company for negligence and breach of contract. Plaintiff alleged that defendant failed to install a properly functioning system and, despite numerous attempts to make repairs, defendant was unable to repair the system. Plaintiff sued for $1 million dollars, alleging that the improperly functioning upscale entertainment system decreased his enjoyment of his property and caused him to lose several hundred thousand of dollars when he sold his mansion. Defendant company counter-claimed against plaintiff for failure to pay the full amount due under the contract.

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• Plaintiff homeowner sued defendant roofing contractor for breach of express warranty for the allegedly inadequate installation of and subsequent repairs made to plaintiff’s roof. Plaintiff sought damages for the replacement of the roof, costs for years of repairs, and the resultant water damage to his interior property. Statute of limitations issues existed, as well as issues regarding whether the language of the warranty and the pleadings allowed for the recovery of resultant damages.
• Plaintiff homeowners sued defendant pool surfacing and maintenance company for breach of express warranty, implied warranty and negligence. Plaintiff alleged that the pool surface needed to be replaced due to faulty surfacing and maintenance of the pH balance in the pool water.
• Plaintiff homeowner sued defendant home entertainment and alarm company for the inadequate installation and repair of the system, leading to the alleged loss in value and enjoyment of the property.

• Plaintiff employee sued long-term employer pharmacy when she was terminated from her 20 year employment due to a disability in her arms that made it difficult for her to perform her existing job duties.
• Plaintiff actor sued his employer theater when they fired him before opening night. Plaintiff alleged that he was fired for racially discriminatory reasons and because he asked for a copy of the signed employment agreement.
• Plaintiff employee sued her employer technology company for sexual harassment because her supervisor allegedly made repeated sexually-themed jokes and comments.
• Plaintiff employee sued employer for wrongful termination and age/race discrimination when she was terminated from long time employment due to complaints about work conditions, job duties and her supervisor.
• Plaintiff adjunct professor sued defendant college for age discrimination when they stopped allowing her to teach classes at the college after 7 years of allegedly good reviews.

• Assisted family members, who jointly owned and operated a family publicity management company, in defining their job responsibilities and determining a fair compensation structure so as to avoid future family resentment and discord.
• Plaintiff segment producers sued employer television talk show when they were terminated for refusing to perform job duties that conflicted with their morals.

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• Plaintiff attorney sued his client for half a million dollars when she refused to pay plaintiff pursuant to a 36% contingency fee agreement on a judgment. Plaintiff alleged that he is entitled to 36% of the judgment given that he represented his client through a trial that resulted in a favorable judgment for plaintiff. Defendant client alleged that the money was not due because plaintiff attorney stopped providing services to plaintiff prior to the entry of judgment. The settlement was complicated by the fact that an attorney’s fees motion was pending on appeal after being denied by the trial court.
• Plaintiff sued his criminal defense attorney for a return of the money that he paid to the attorney pursuant to a retainer agreement. Plaintiff alleged that defendant attorney provided minimal services for him, and accordingly, is not entitled to the retainer money.
• Plaintiff divorce attorney sued her client for failure to pay her full attorney’s fees resulting from her representation of her client in divorce proceedings.
  

• Plaintiff sued defendant in a road rage case for damages to his car, emotional distress damages, cost of medical bills and punitive damages when defendant blocked the road with his car, and then exited his car to hit plaintiff and plaintiff’s Ferrari with a crow bar.
• Plaintiff sued defendant for an accident in which defendant’s car collided with plaintiff’s motorcycle. Plaintiff alleged millions of dollars in damages, including costs for medical treatment, spinal surgery, rehabilitation and emotional distress. Plaintiff also made a large claim for future damages, which defendant contested on the ground that, after plaintiff’s surgery and recovery, plaintiff had a subsequent motorcycle crash and injury.
• Plaintiff sued defendant for sexual assault when her then husband allegedly repeatedly physically forced her to have sex with him, leading to infertility and emotional distress.
• Plaintiff sued a high profile defendant when he was allegedly hit and severely injured by defendant’s car while walking in a parking lot.
• Dispute resulting when defendant’s dog allegedly attacked plaintiff neighbor’s dog. The dog died of the injuries after plaintiff incurred $40,000 in medical and rehabilitation expenses.

• Plaintiff attorney sued his client for defamation, alleging that his client posted disparaging and defamatory remarks on AVVO.
• Plaintiff, who was a pregnant obstetrician, sued defendant for rear-ending her car. She alleged significant lost wages, claiming that the accident forced her to go on bed rest, thereby preventing her from treating patients and obtaining new clients.
• Plaintiff was bit in the arm by defendant’s dog in an apartment building where they both lived. Plaintiff sued defendant and the apartment building. Plaintiff asked for $1 million in damages due to medical costs, emotional distress, and future medical costs for an alleged permanent and/or long term condition.
• Numerous car accident cases involving contested liability issues, damages issues, and/or insurance coverage/reservation of rights issues.

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• Dispute involving the issue as to whether the exchange in ownership interest of a piece of commercial property should be characterized as either a sale for a section 1031 property exchange or a loan at a 6% rate secured by the commercial property. The minimal written agreement referenced the property as a “sale,” but the transaction was structured as a loan and extrinsic evidence referred to the transaction as a loan. The characterization of the property transfer had implications on whether plaintiff or defendant/cross-complainant was owed money due to the fact that the subsequent sale of the commercial property was at a significantly smaller purchase price than the initial transfer of the property.
• Dispute involving a commercial real estate lease that contained an exclusivity provision negotiated by a doctor tenant. Doctor tenant argued that, pursuant to the negotiated exclusivity provision in the lease, the landlord could not lease space on the ground floor to an urgent care facility. He alleged significant damages based upon the interference it would have with his medical practice.
• Dispute about a house in Santa Monica Canyon being improperly sold at a significantly discounted price. Plaintiff was the past owner of the property who sued the buyers claiming that the sale was fraudulent and without proper notice. Plaintiff alleged more than $1 million in damages.
• Dispute involving the issue of whether an easement should be granted, and for what price, to a land-locked property in Topanga Canyon from a non-profit organization owning adjacent property. The non-profit organization was designed to preserve the natural habitat in the canyon and they were concerned with the use, sub-division and building of structures on the property.
• Property line dispute in which plaintiff sued neighbor defendants for removing expensive and mature trees from plaintiff’s property and subsequently building a wall on plaintiff’s property. Defendants claimed that they were remodeling their house and that the removal was accidental because they believed that the trees and wall were on defendants’ property.
  

• Property line dispute involving neighboring property owners in Mandeville Canyon. Plaintiff sued defendants alleging that defendants owed plaintiff money for improperly using plaintiff’s property for a garage, parking, pool equipment and fountain equipment.
• Dispute involving the breach of a commercial lease. Plaintiff pharmacy sued the landlord for breach of a commercial lease when the landlord allegedly failed to properly prepare the leased space in order to meet the stringent guidelines required by the pharmacy licensing board. The landlord counter-claimed for breach of the commercial lease, given that plaintiff never moved into the property.
• Multi-party dispute involving a wrongful foreclosure action and the subsequent wrongful purchase of property.
  
• Dispute involving the alleged breach of a commercial lease. Plaintiff landlord sued defendant tenant, who lost his financing for his martial arts studio, for not making timely nor full monthly lease payments.
• The homeowner of a condominium sued the condominium building and another homeowner, for the extensive damage that resulted when water dripped through the roof of their unit. The homeowner also sued the homeowners association for allegedly preventing them from making the necessary repairs due to their rules and requirements. Additionally, the homeowners association sued the homeowner in a declaratory relief action for a violation of its rules and procedures.
• Dispute involving the alleged breach of a commercial lease agreement in Beverly Hills. Plaintiff landlord sued defendant tenant alleging that she breached the commercial lease by vacating the premises a few years early. Defendant tenant alleged that she had to leave early because she detrimentally relied upon misrepresentations about square footage size, causing her to not have enough useable space to run her business. Plaintiff landlord also sued real estate brokers for interference with business relations and breach of fiduciary duty because they found the defendant tenant a new space during the terms of the lease.
• Right of view case in which plaintiff sued neighbor defendant on the ground that defendant’s trees and hedges blocked the neighbor’s ocean view.
• Property line dispute. Plaintiff sued defendant for alleged encroachments caused by defendant’s fence and its underground footings.
• Dispute in which plaintiff tenant claimed wrongful eviction from a rent-controlled apartment in Venice. Plaintiff alleged that the landlord wrongfully evicted him so that he could improperly convert the property to commercial use only, which is not subject to rent-control restrictions. Plaintiff sued for $1 million in damages.
• Dispute between sibling property owners regarding two income properties, managed by one sibling, and left to both siblings in the will of their mother. Dispute involved whether to sell each of the properties, and if so, at what value and pursuant to what valuation process.
• Dispute between numerous family members regarding undistributed proceeds from the sale of real property transferred equally to them upon the death of parent property owners. One family member argued that he should be reimbursed for the money he spent on lawyer fees and improvements to the property made for the purposes of sale prior to the equal distribution of sale proceeds.
• Plaintiff tenant sued her landlord for the return of her security deposit and the value of her lost belongings. Plaintiff alleged that, in response to complaints about the habitability of the premises, the landlord wrongfully served her with a 60 day notice to vacate and then, prior to the expiration of the notice period, the landlord locked plaintiff out of the premises, refusing to allow her to recover her belongings.
• Plaintiff tenant sued her landlord for wrongful eviction and negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Plaintiff alleged that, in response to her complaints about the habitability of her apartment, defendant wrongfully evicted her after entering her apartment, without permission and the 24 hour notice provided for in the lease, to find her naked. The landlord counter-claimed for a breach of lease that he alleged had occurred because the plaintiff tenant had been sub-letting rooms in the apartment in violation of the written lease.
• Plaintiff tenant sued defendant landlord for the return of her security deposit, when prior to moving into a leased mansion in Beverly Hills, she chose not to move in after learning that one of the guest houses was not permitted for habitability and that there was asbestos in a room in the main house. Defendant landlord counterclaimed for breach of lease.
• Dispute involving a tenant who sued for the return of his secured parking spot, or a substantial reduction of the rent, when the landlord took his secured parking spot away in a rent-controlled apartment, where tenant had lived for 15 years. Plaintiff alleged that the landlord knew the importance of the parking spot to plaintiff and that he denied plaintiff of this spot solely so that plaintiff would have to move, thereby allowing the landlord to rent the apartment to another tenant without rent control restrictions.
• Landlord tenant dispute in which the tenants alleged that the landlord erroneously refused to pay for emergency plumbing repairs.
• Plaintiff tenant sued landlord for rent paid over a 4 year tenancy, alleging that defendant illegally collected rent due to the fact that her guest house was unpermitted.
• Dispute in which plaintiff sued to remove ex-husband defendant’s name from the title to real property that was transferred to her and her then husband through her mother’s will. Defendant had a loan on the property in his name.
• Unlimited jurisdiction dispute alleging treble damages and $50,000 in attorneys fees in a case involving alleged bad faith refusal to return a $12,000 security deposit.
• Numerous habitability disputes involving claims by apartment and guest house tenants relating to various defective conditions, including vermin, insect infestation, noisiness and improperly working electricity and plumbing.
• Numerous disputes involving the lease of residential property in which tenants fail to pay rent due to loss of job, imprisonment, domestic partnership separations and/or relocation. Issues typically involved whether the landlord properly mitigated damages, whether the withholding of a security deposit return was proper, and the arrangement of payment plans when money is admittedly owed on a lease.

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