Author: OC Attorney

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Patrick J. D’Arcy – Expertise in Real Estate Law and Real Estate Expert Witness

Patrick J. D’Arcy, an Irvine, California attorney, has substantial real estate  transactional experience, including representing owners of commercial shopping centers, developers, property managers and landlords.  Patrick J. D’Arcy has significant real estate litigation experience too, including representing lenders, owners and real estate brokers, as well as a myriad of real estate properties, from estate homes, shopping malls, airports and Wall Street investment portfolios.  Recently, Patrick J. D’Arcy obtained a full dismissal of a real estate lawsuit involving Burger King CEO’s in federal court, and wiped out a $450,000 damage claim – just on the pleadings.   The federal judge agreed with Mr. D’Arcy’s defenses, and issued a 20 page opinion dismissing the case completely.

Pat’s career in real estate includes many notable landmark properties: the $229 million title insurance policy issued on the Sherman Oaks Galleria in 1989, a $500 million hospital merger, the $2 billion Unocal-Tosco merger of Unocal oil fields, the $500 million merger of Macy’s, Wall Street portfolios of more than $1 billion, the airspace rights for a hotel, assisting the Burbank Airport to condemn land for airport expansion, the sale of the Bullocks Wilshire building to Southwestern Law School, the $90 million transfer of the Wells Fargo building in downtown Los Angeles, the sale of California Plaza, the sale and merger of Harvard and Westlake High Schools into “Harvard-Westlake,” the transfer of the former estate of Judy Garland in Malibu, and the sale and transfer of many properties owned by celebrities, including Paul Allen of Microsoft, John Landis, Steve Martin, Corbin Bernsen, Larry Hagman, Dolph Lundgren, Kenny Loggins, Eric Dickerson (of the Rams), Vidal Sassoon, and many others.

Pat has also drafted many types of real estate contracts, including mergers of businesses, buy-sell agreements, and corporate minutes, bylaws and other matters.

Patrick J. D’Arcy is an expert witness for real estate matters involving BRE licensed salespersons/brokers and title insurance.  Pat has a broker’s license, and was the original pioneer of the controlled-business relationships between title companies and mortgage companies (related to RESPA), and set up and managed these companies in various states, including Ohio, Minnesota, California, Texas and others. Pat created these companies for public companies such as First American, Weyerhauser, Centex and E-Loan.   The largest, in Texas, was projected to do $10 million per year, which Pat formed with himself as the original employee.

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Federal Court – In Published Opinion – Dismissed Entire Case Against Burger King Franchisee

Patrick J. D’Arcy, an Irvine, CA attorney, and his firm, Patrick J. D’Arcy, a Professional Law Corporation, obtained yet another impressive victory in a real estate lawsuit, where Mr. D’Arcy defended against a $450,000 damage claim.  The clients were by two former officers, including its past CEO, and their corporation – various Burger King franchises (REX Investment Company v. SME et al.), Case No. 15-cv-02607-H-JMA.  The plaintiff sued for breach of contract over the lease (and other claims).  The case is now a published federal opinion, making it binding authority in the Ninth Circuit.  Mr. D’Arcy not only got full dismissals of the individuals at the pleading stage, but did the same for the corporation on all but two claims against it.  Then, when the plaintiffs moved for summary judgment, Mr. D’Arcy used a rare procedure – a Rule 56 opposition that seeks to defeat the MSJ, as well as to dismiss the case.  Judge Marilyn Huff agreed with Mr. D’Arcy’s arguments and case law, and threw the case out.  No trial, no damages paid.

https://www.leagle.com/decision/infdco20160830966

Mr. D’Arcy refused all settlement offers, and filed a Rule 12(b)(6) challenge to dismiss the case.  Judge Marilyn Huff, in a 20 page opinion, agreed with Mr. D’Arcy’s arguments, and dismissed both former officers from the case, and eliminated four of the six claims against the lone corporate defendant claimed to be the lessee.

As for the two remaining claims, one is the alternate of the other, meaning only one claim remained after Mr. D’Arcy’s pleading challenges.

Mr. D’Arcy then opposed the landlord’s motion for summary judgment and not only defeated a motion with over 500 pages worth of exhibits, but had the Court dismiss the case against the plaintiff through an expertly written opposition!

The Court’s ruling was published and is now binding authority in the Ninth Circuit, and concerns California law dealing with tenant assignments of commercial leases.  The filings by the firm meticulously researched California law dating back to 1889, and stopped a damage claim for $450,000 in its tracks.  Had the Court not ruled as it did, the client would have been liable for the other side’s attorney’s fees too, making the total damage claim worth about $1 million.

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Firm Defeats Class Action Against Courier Company and Prevails on Appeal

As profiled in the Los Angeles Journal and Law 360, the firm successfully defeated a class action by Chavos & Rau, PC. Judge Perk of the Complex Division ruled that no grounds existed to certify a class action. The plaintiff appealed the decision, and lost.  To show the frivolous nature of the “class action,” the plaintiff dismissed its case the day before a jury was to be selected and did not get anyone to join the class.

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Firm Successfully Defends CEO Against Fraud Claim

Mr. D’Arcy defended a CEO against false claims in excess of $200,000 against him and his luxury vacation home.  Mr. D’Arcy refused all settlement offers over the span of 2 1/2 years, and took the matter to trial.  After taking the deposition of the lead plaintiff (and main liar), the judge mediating the case agreed with Mr. D’Arcy that the plaintiff wasn’t entitled to anything.  Plaintiff dropped their demands down to a token payment immediately before trial.

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12-0 Jury Verdict At Mosk Courthouse, Downtown Los Angeles

The firm defended a client from an $8 million damage claim.  After a seven day jury trial in downtown Los Angeles, the firm obtained a complete defense verdict for one of the defendants, and prevailed on claims of fraud, elder abuse, conversion, breach of contract and others.  As for the other defendant, the firm had nine of twelve claims dismissed by the jury and the remaining claims wiped out in the bankruptcy court.

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Firm Defeats BASTA at Trial With No Payments Made

 

 

REAL CLIENTS, REAL VICTORIES. The firm represented this landlord in a nasty eviction where the tenant hadn’t paid rent for nine months and was evicted  at trial.

Mr. D’Arcy took BASTA to trial against deadbeat tenants that had not paid rent in nine months.  Mr. D’Arcy defeated BASTA’s ridiculous motions for summary judgment, motion for judgment, and then, after a three day trial, evicted them.   The tenants weren’t facing financial hardship as a reason to pay: they were gainfully employed, but enjoyed living for free, even though it put the property at risk of foreclosure. Mr. D’Arcy still evicted the tenants even though the rental unit lacked a certificate of occupancy.  The loser tenants went from smirking and smiling to walking out evicted.  It’s clear that BASTA’s promise of a victory went terribly wrong.