Shaoxing City etc. Products v. Landsberg & Associates CA2/2

Filed 6/25/15 Shaoxing City etc. Products v. Landsberg & Associates CA2/2 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 TWO

SHAOXING CITY MAOLONG B257823 WUZHONG DOWN PRODUCTS, LTD et al., (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BC455229) Plaintiffs and Appellants,

v.

LANDSBERG & ASSOCIATES et al.,

Defendants and Respondents.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Rolf M. Treu, Judge. Affirmed. Timothy D. McGonigle for Plaintiffs and Appellants. Gordon & Rees, David L. Jones, Christopher R. Wagner and A. Louis Dorny for Defendants and Respondents.

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A creditor retained a second set of attorneys to represent it in a bankruptcy proceeding after its first set of attorneys missed a deadline to challenge a different creditor’s lien. While represented by the second set of attorneys, the creditor mediated the dispute with the debtor and settled for less than the full amount of its debt. The creditor then sued the second set of attorneys for malpractice. The trial court granted summary judgment to the attorneys, concluding that the mediation confidentiality 1 statutes, Evidence Code section 1115 et seq., prevented the creditor from proving that the attorneys’ alleged malpractice caused the settlement to be far less than the full amount of the debt. We conclude this was correct, and affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY An arbitrator determined that plaintiffs Shaoxing City Maolong Wuzhong Down Products, Ltd. (Shaoxing) and Shui Yan Cheng’s (Cheng) (collectively, plaintiffs) were entitled to a total of $5.35 million from Aeolus Down, Inc. (Aeolus), Wei Xu, and Wei Dong (collectively, debtors). After the arbitrator issued its tentative ruling but before plaintiffs obtained a judgment confirming the arbitration award, Aeolus entered into a security agreement with Zhejiang Hengdi Bedding Co., Ltd. and Zhejiang Liuqiao Feather Co., Inc. (collectively, Zhejiang), and Zhejiang filed a blanket lien attaching to all of Aeolus’s assets. Soon after plaintiffs obtained the judgment, debtors filed for bankruptcy. Plaintiffs hired defendants Keehn & Associates, and L. Scott Keehn (collectively, Keehn) as counsel in order to obtain discovery and challenge Zhejiang’s lien as a fraudulent transfer. After Keehn missed the deadline without obtaining any discovery or challenging Zhejiang’s lien, plaintiffs retained Landsberg and Associates and Ian Landsberg (collectively, Landsberg) and officially substituted Landsberg for Keehn as their bankruptcy counsel. With Landsberg as counsel of record, plaintiffs engaged in