Amirtalesh v. Sterling CA2/4

Filed 11/13/25 Amirtalesh v. Sterling CA2/4 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS

California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION FOUR

SHAHNAZ AMIRTALESH, B338011

Plaintiff and Appellant, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. 19STCV38374) v.

ROCHELLE H. STERLING, et al.,

Defendants and Respondents.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Timothy P. Dillon, Judge. Affirmed. Shahnaz Amirtalesh, in pro. per., for Plaintiff and Appellant. Pyka Lenhardt Schnaider Dawkins, Krista Dawkins, David P. Lenhardt, Jackson Leverone; Klinedinst, Greg A. Garbacz, Robert M. Shaughnessy, and Suzanne L. Schmidt for Defendant and Respondent.

Plaintiff Shahnaz Amirtalesh appeals from the trial court’s order denying her motion to disqualify counsel for defendants Rochelle Sterling and Rochelle Sterling as Trustee of the Sterling Family Trust and DBA Beverly Hills Properties (collectively, defendants). Amirtalesh asserts the court’s ruling was an abuse of discretion because opposing counsel obtained her confidential information and subjected her to fraudulent and harassing conduct. We conclude Amirtalesh has not shown error and affirm the order.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND In October 2019, Amirtalesh sued defendants after a pipe leaked sewage into her apartment. Defendants owned and managed the property. Amirtalesh’s operative second amended complaint asserted claims for breach of warranty of habitability and other causes of action against defendants. In February 2024, Amirtalesh filed her motion to disqualify defendants’ counsel, Fred Peters (Peters), David Lenhardt and Krista Dawkins of Pyka Lenhardt Schnaider Dawkins LLP, and Gregory Garbacz (Garbacz) of Klinedinst PC. Amirtalesh claimed defense counsel obtained her confidential information by improper means. According to Amirtalesh, at a hearing a week before the scheduled trial date of November 20, 2023, she saw Peters give two binders back to her counsel, Martin Jerisat. She speculates that these binders contained confidential information that should not have been shared with opposing counsel. Jerisat said the binders only contained trial exhibits. Amirtalesh says “she never consented to giving her evidence to opposing counsel” at that stage of the litigation. Next, Amirtalesh claimed she saw Jerisat look at Peters’ laptop when answering questions from the