Don’t Just Hire A Lawyer! Hire A Trial Lawyer. The Firm Has A Remarkable Winning Percentage At Trial, And Has Obtained Two Of The Largest Decisions In California.
It’s easy to pick the wrong lawyer. In fact, it is too easy. Lawyers can be the most artificial and phony people you will ever meet. In sizing up your lawyer, he can “talk tough” and give you fake confidence that all is well. Then, as the case has progressed to the point of milking you out of a lot of money, he is now pushing hard to “settle.” Many lawyers – and I mean many – are not trial lawyers. And even if you come across a lawyer with many trials under his belt, he could still be a shitty lawyer. Don’t be lulled to sleep simply because he touts his “20 years of trying cases.” He could have one year’s worth of experience, replayed for twenty consecutive years. He might not really be that good. What does his website say? Are the victories listed? The best lawyers brag about their wins, because how else will persons choose them from among a box of See’s candies where you can choose the wrong lawyer and not realize it until too late into the game? If a lawyer doesn’t mention his wins, that should be a huge warning to you. What follows is just a partial listing of what our firm has done.
On July 12, 2023, the Court of Appeal for the second time ruled in my favor in a defamation action I brought against persons that defamed me and my law firm. I defeated both anti-SLAPP motions, defeated the first appeal, and when the California Supreme Court held that the law had changed since the first Appellate Court victory, sent the matter back to be decided again. After I submitted supplemental briefing, I once again argued the matter before the Appellate Court, and defeated the appeal for the second time. The matter will now proceed to trial after six years of appeals.
On June 23, 2023, I defeated an emergency request for an ex parte application to stop a foreclosure of an estate home. I wasn’t given really any time to prepare, and found out where the hearing was 27 minutes before it was to take place. I immediately called the court from my car, and was able to tell the clerk my verbal opposition to the granting of the application. The court denied the application in a three sentence ruling using my exact reasons.
In May 2023, I filed a very complicated motion that ended 36 real estate claims against my four claims. This lawsuit sought to put easements on my clients’ land. The motion argued that jurisdiction was lacking, and made arguments about sovereignty and the lack of jurisdiction by the trial court to hear the matter. The court – in a very lengthy opinion – granted the motion and ended the case after three years of litigation.
On October 7, 2022 I appeared for trial at Mosk Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles. I defended a hotly contested litigation matter that dragged on for nearly four years due to it being in the probate department, a conservatorship, with the death of a conservator, and a further complaint filed in the civil department at Mosk Courthouse. After getting the stay lifted in the probate department, I focused on destroying this lawsuit. I defended 14 persons and entities with up to 20 claims each. This lawsuit was to invalidate a loan. By the time of trial, I had all but four defendants dismissed. I got two dismissed during the trial, and just had two left, with three claims each. After a five minute cross examination of the plaintiff’s expert witness (a psychologist), I ended the plaintiff’s case. I made the psychologist admit he was wrong. He grinded his teeth in seething anger on fully display in the courtroom. I then requested that the case be dismissed under Code of Civil Procedure Section 631.8, for a failure to meet their burden of proof. The motion was granted. The lender foreclosed and the plaintiff took NOTHING.
On February 23, 2022, in Complex Court, I, along with my co-counsel, obtained an impressive and decisive win that will be among the largest in California in 2022. This lawsuit wrapped up five other lawsuits into one big mess. Given the size of the estate, our client was forced to defend millions in claims. There was a probate action involving feuding siblings, a defamation action (where I defeated the anti-SLAPP and appeal), a quiet title action, and other petitions. The case had over 4,400 exhibits! “Phase 1” – which was handled by prior counsel, resulted in the Court issuing a 23 page statement of decision that made findings against my client of financial elder abuse, etc. The client dismissed his previous attorneys, and hired me and my co-counsel to handle “phase 2.” The phase 2 trial lasted 17 days. The petitioners sought to completely disinherit my client, sought sizable attorney’s fees, double damages, and the rescission of valuable real estate worth millions of dollars. Through an aggressive defense, we brought in hundreds of new exhibits, and argued the matter. I was tasked with the cross-examination of the main witness. When the phase 2 trial concluded, the Judge issued his ruling, and absolved our client of all wrongdoing! A complete reversal! We had to process a massive amount of information, and under intense pressure, delivered justice to our client.
In 2019, I was recognized by TopVerdict with a jury verdict that ranked 37th in Los Angeles County for 2019, including a damage award of $3,691,482. I represented 22 plaintiffs in a complex stock fraud case. Overall, it was the 83rd largest verdict in all of California.
https://topverdict.com/lists/2019/california/los-angeles/top-50-verdicts
https://topverdict.com/lists/2019/california/top-100-verdicts
On September 27, 2021, I concluded a hard-fought real estate dispute involving a large mansion that was foreclosed upon. I represented the lender, its employees, a mortgage broker and the investors. The borrowers demanded $1 million, and made allegations of “financial elder abuse,” “breach of fiduciary duty,” “wrongful foreclosure,” “rescission,” 17200 and others. Collectively, 132 claims were brought against my client. We had 84 claims dismissed by way of dispositive motion, which must be some kind of record, and went to trial on the remaining claims. Over 450 exhibits were prepared for trial, and two experts. We defeated every claim at trial. The plaintiffs received nothing but heavy legal fees, even we tried to get them to walk-away. The arbitrator found that my clients did nothing wrong.
On September 14, 2021, I concluded a trial representing two corporations and its owner in a defamation case brought against a person who posted a Yelp review. We requested that the Yelp review be taken down, so as to avoid litigation. The person refused. We defeated their attempt to file a late anti-slapp, defeated their attempt to have four motions to compel heard, and are now awaiting the judge’s decision.
In August 2021, I was tasked with drafting major portions of an appellate brief concerning a large defamation case, with the objective to reverse the trial court’s rulings on both anti-SLAPP motions. We prevailed, and the Appellate Court ruled that no First Amendment protection was afforded, and reversed both anti-SLAPP rulings and also reversed the awarding of attorney’s fees too for good measure.
In July 2021, I was called to defend a lender and foreclosure company concerning a Los Angeles downtown hotel against a bullshit lawsuit filed by an arrogant and newly minted lawyer. I worked alongside another outstanding lawyer, who defended the owner. Together, we filed devastating Rule 12 challenges to all of the causes of action, and the federal judge issued a ruling dismissing the case after just one pleading! Case over.
On May 18, 2021, I concluded a bench trial where I defended a corporation against a nearly $200K monetary claim from a person claiming to have lent money to the site. This was a home in the Real Housewives of Orange County. There were more than 150 exhibits. We defeated the conversion claim before trial, got the deceptive business practices claim dismissed at trial, and the remaining two claims defeated at the close of evidence. For good measure, I also got dismissed the plaintiff’s two fraud claims against another defendant. I like to be thorough. Counting attorney’s fees on both sides, this was about a $400K case. We will now seek to recover our attorney’s fees and costs. On the real estate side, this case had very interesting facts, and allowed us to show off our knowledge in this area. For instance, when one of the defendants recorded the deed of trust, the Judge agreed with us it was to “cloud” the title, as they no longer had title to encumber. We then provided the case authority showing such an act to be a felony.
Also in May 2021, I defended a $1,500 claim. Yes, you read that right! My client was renting a high-end apartment and wanted the remainder of her $1,500 deposit back. The landlord made up an excuse to keep it. So, my client sued the landlord in small claims, and lost. In a case where it was really about the “principle” (and not the principal), she appealed the loss, and had me handle the case before Judge Nathan Scott. The landlord similarly “lawyered up.” The attorney and her client were arrogant. No matter. We defeated them. What I found particularly strange was the level of disrespect hurled at me simply when I introduced myself before the trial started. This lawyer acted like he was “the shit.” It was all a bluff. He didn’t really know the evidence code too well. When I started hurling objections at him, his eyes started “darting” and he lost his focus. He was a smart guy, but a smart ass too. He figured he’d blow us out of the water in arguing the landlord (which was the husband) was the party to be sued. My client had sued the wife. Arguing that my client named the wrong party, I quickly fixed this “problem.” I put the wife on the stand, and got her to admit she commingles these funds into a joint account with her husband, declares rental income on a joint Schedule E with her 1040, and that she is a joint owner of the house. What a stupid defense. They got nothing. Even though my client spent more than $1,500 to end this saga, she just couldn’t allow someone to prevail like that. Justice comes in all shapes and sizes.
In 2019, I became lead plaintiffs’ counsel in a major lawsuit moved to Complex Court in Alameda County, involving potentially 16 or more parcels of land and being litigated by six law firms. The hillside parcels never got fully developed, went into foreclosure, and resulted in claims against the fund control company, the owners, the contractor and construction lenders. With some major elbow grease, I defeated a motion for summary adjudication, and defeated the fund control’s request for indemnification. We also defeated a motion for dismissal as to one defendant, which they appealed (and lost again). The case has now finally resolved through a multi-party settlement.
I defeated a federal lawsuit over a commercial lease, with the case published as binding authority in the Ninth Circuit. After a blistering attack with Rule 12 motions, we got the owners out (they were franchisees of Burger King), dismissed all but two claims against their company with further pleading attacks, and then last two claims were tossed on summary judgment.
I represented a lender where a borrower brought a temporary restraining order (“TRO”) to halt the foreclosure. I defeated the TRO, only for him to bring another, which I defeated again. Then, I had him dismiss his lawsuit, all within the span of a few months. We’ve defeated so many injunctions that it is rare for us to lose one.
On January 22, 2021, I got another New Year’s present: I was brought in to assist in writing the appellate brief for a large defamation case involving two appeals of anti-slapp motions in Los Angeles county. We not only prevailed, but reversed the award requiring our client to pay attorney’s fees, reinstated the dismissed causes of action, and recovered our costs. The lawsuit was about a Twitter account that claimed a “parody” or “humor” defense for what was written. They appealed again to the California Supreme Court, and their petition was denied.
I was on my way to a Sunday birthday celebration when I got immediate successive calls from a client that his son was in jail and had just been arrested. There were five charges, including three of them being “strike” felonies, and two gun charges. Think about California’s “Three Strikes Law,” and having three of them in one case. An ex-girlfriend and two of her friends made up all types of bullshit against him. He had never been in trouble before, but was facing possibly thirty years in prison. As Al Pacino said in The Devil’s Advocate, “Kevin (played by Keanu Reeves)…Kevin…we talked about this….Remember?… Pressure? Take a big whiff!” (For those thinking of becoming a lawyer, you better get comfortable with shit like this). As people sang “Happy Birthday” to me, my mind was racing. I blew out the candles, quickly disappeared, and made calls and started looking at what had been filed on line, since the father was only getting bits of information. Now, I normally don’t take criminal cases anymore (even though I was a DA at one time). This one was different – the “client” was also a close friend of mine. Well, I turned the tables on the “victims” and sued them. I then put one of them on the stand. When I started my cross-examination, she was smirking and smiling at me, and literally enjoying her moment in the hot seat. Evil personified. She was also arrogant as hell. Within one hour, I had her admit that she forged government documents, that her boyfriend (the other “victim”) had as well, and so destroyed her on the stand that the judge threatened to have charges brought against her and the other clowns. The case was then dismissed. The DA was great and really fair. Because I was dealing with a narcissistic liar, I made sure to bring a court reporter to take down everything she said. I got that smirk wiped off her face. Confronted with the felonies she now admitted to, and that her story didn’t match anything she told the police, she busted out crying, followed by catatonic blank stares. Her look of horror was in stark contrast to the arrogant person who dared me to question her. Justice served. That was a very high stakes case for the son – his entire future was hanging over his head because of an evil ex-girlfriend who wanted others to lie for her. This case will always be personally satisfying to me and rank among the best cross-examinations of my entire career. Getting an innocent person their life back makes the hard work and stress worth it to me. When the spotlight was at its brightest, and I only had one shot to get this evil person, I was able to get to the truth and end this horrible saga.
I get an adrenaline rush (as do most lawyers) when facing an emergency temporary restraining order (“TRO”) or preliminary injunction. For one lender, the borrower brought two TRO’s to halt the foreclosure, and we defeated them both. We then got him to dismiss his lawsuit. All of this happened before the case could even get off the ground.
I was particularly happy with the victory we obtained for a paint distributor, who wanted out of his franchise contract with a South African company. We eventually settled the case where all of my client’s money – over several hundred thousand dollars – was returned so that he walked away, and the manufacturer was now the owner of the store. I drafted all of the settlement contracts, real estate documents and escrow instructions.
I represented a very large painting contractor, and obtained a $1.3 million settlement.
On October 23, 2018, and after a two-week jury trial in downtown Los Angeles, I obtained a $3.7 million jury verdict (including $1.4 million in punitive damages) on a complicated stock fraud case where I represented 22 plaintiffs. This was a hard-fought case where I did the direct and cross-examination of 28 witnesses. I got the defense’s “expert” on stock fraud to admit on the stand that my clients were defrauded, which proved the first claim of our case, “fraud.” That was pretty hilarious. One of our other claims was against the company that hired the defendant. We sued the company for negligent supervision and prevailed to the tune of $723K. We settled with other defendants for $515K more, meaning the total recovery is north of $4.3 million. This verdict ranks in the top 83rd according to “Top Verdict 100” in all of California for 2019. The firm successfully defended its trial verdict by defeating all post trial motions, including a motion to offset the judgment against a prior settlement, a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, and a motion for a new trial. We then opposed and defeated the appeal.
In 2014, in Complex Court in Orange County, I, along with co-counsel Paul Rafferty of Jones Day, defeated a class action from every forming, defeated the appeal of that ruling, and appeared at trial only to find that the plaintiffs had dismissed the case that morning. We refused settling for $100. That case was profiled in Law360. Had Court deny class certification, and successfully defended appeal of decision to the appellate court. Successfully argued motion that forced the Plaintiff’s law firm to step down as class counsel; had all six claims initially dismissed; successfully opposed motion to disqualify the firm; successfully opposed ex parte application to delay trial; successfully opposed motion for sanctions against the firm. The defendants dismissed the case the day before trial with no payments made.
https://www.law360.com/articles/513554/law-firm-loses-class-cert-appeal-in-courier-pricing-suit
My firm has won every appeal taken against us (all unanimously), 12-0 jury verdicts, defeated mega-size law firms, defeated a class action from ever forming (and then defeated the appeal), many outright dismissals before the case even really started, bankrupted shady people who tried to scam our clients, and generated a lot of publicity. We are experts on defamation law.
On March 21, 2019, I argued a libel case before the Court of Appeal, supported by my 43 page appellate brief. I previously defeated an anti-SLAPP motion that the defendant filed in the defamation case. So, they appealed, and lost again. The Court of Appeal largely used my citations and unanimously upheld my defeat of the anti-SLAPP motion, and defeated an “appellate specialist” in the process.
On April 24, 2020, in another defamation case, I drafted the appellate briefs and argued the matter before the Appellate Court, which unanimously upheld my defeat of an anti-SLAPP motion.
Represented real estate broker against charges by DRE that would include a license suspension of one year or more. Had nearly all claims dismissed and reached settlement of no license suspension, minimal fine and continuing education.
Represented seller of estate home in platinum triangle. Met with City regarding zoning issues, and got approval for a road to the parcel. This was a significant victory, as the cost to build a road would doom the sale of the parcel of land. Land had remained vacant precisely because nobody could get this approval. Land was later developed with a $25 million dollar home.
Represented a “finder” against a famous real estate broker in Beverly Hills for a finder’s fee, when a $27 million home was sold. Broker denied payment was owed. Filed lawsuit against the broker. Result: case settled on terms favorable to client.
Represented seller of large parcel of land in Beverly Hills. Obtained nearly $40K refund in tax payments after taking matter to trial before the Los Angeles Assessment and Appeals Board. The Board’s lead counsel, Jim Jochimen said Mr. D’Arcy was among the most knowledgeable real estate attorneys he had ever faced. In fact, the Assessor refused to go forward without having a lawyer present to represent them. Mr. D’Arcy refused all settlement offers to lower the property’s permanent valuation.
In another case, I also defeated unanimously an appeal of our 12-0 jury verdict in Santa Monica against BASTA. We also defeated unanimously an appeal of our victory in Complex Court which stopped a class action from even forming. Our appeal in a different case in Complex Court forced a settlement, and we previously obtained an injunction halting the payment of funds on a public works project.
In a case where my clients were raided by the San Bernardino Sheriff’s office, and had over $200K in cash and all of their computers and equipment confiscated, I successfully reversed the judge’s search warrant, and had everything returned to my client.
Represented borrower who was overcharged by Citibank by $21K. Client wrote letters, but was ignored. Result: lender refunded all $21K after only my second letter to them.
Represented client owed about $90K after evicting the commercial tenant. Business owner refused to pay. I filed contempt citations against the president, had a bench warrant issued for his arrest, and cross examined him for 2 hours at a debtor’s exam. I then obtained a “seizure order” and shut down his company. Result: company now making substantial monthly payments to client.
Represented owner of substance abuse facility. They received threatening letters from a neighbor (and attorney) to shut them down for alleged zoning violations. Result: wrote detailed (and vicious) responsive letter, and attorney never moved forward with his complaint.
Represented employee against one of the world’s premier jewelers and brought a defamation action. Jeweler sent out its CEO from Geneva and took a hard line stance with a biased investigation and possible termination. We showed how the boutique manager was careless and had violated my client’s rights. Result: employee was reinstated with full pay, an employee file that contains full rebuttal to the allegations of misconduct, a substantial settlement, and with manager no longer working for the company.
Represented clothing manufacturer and non-profit national charity in a copyright and trademark infringement action in Arizona federal court. Defendants typically denied all claims, and hired a large firm for their defense. Defendants even brought their own lawsuit against the client. Federal judge set the matter for briefing, and for a preliminary injunction hearing. Days before the preliminary injunction hearing, the defendants were shown to have abandoned their rights through “merger” and by affirmative defenses of laches (delay). Defendants quickly reversed course and now agreed to settle and give client sole ownership of the trademarks and all other substantial concessions demanded by client. No payment was made to the defendants on their claims. Case settled in about three weeks, and a stunning defeat for the defendants.
Represented business owner who had all computers and about $200,000 seized by the Sheriff’s Department in San Bernardino. Filed motion before Judge Fuller to have the search warrant invalidated. The motion was granted. After negotiations with the District Attorney went nowhere, filed another motion to have the search procedures used by the DA’s office declared unconstitutional. Judge Fuller was about to grant the motion, which would have stopped cold the methods used by the DA in not only San Bernardino county, but potentially all counties in California. Result – DA agreed on day of ruling to return all seized funds and computers.
Represented national company threatened with copyright infringement brought by the Business Software Alliance (“BSA”). The BSA threatened copyright infringement on behalf of Microsoft. After protracted negotiations, the firm reached a joint settlement with the BSA on terms that were very favorable to client, and avoided the costs of litigation.
Represented warehouse distributor against a sham American With Disabilities Act (“ADA”) lawsuit. Successfully intimidated the plaintiff’s attorney into abandoning the case after threatening to file motion declaring him a vexatious litigant. Plaintiff – who had filed more than 300 such lawsuits, quickly abandoned the case with no payment to the scam artist or to its lawyer.
Represented contractor against claims by the Contractor’s State Licensing Board (“CSLB”). Negotiated settlement where three defendants were dismissed completely and had most serious claims dismissed in exchange for a global settlement that was quite favorable to the client.
Represented commercial building owner in litigation against a tenant that abandoned the building and stole valuable glass doors in Riverside. Had client file police report. Successfully opposed motions to quash and had Judge rule that any further motions would be sanctioned. Result: obtained $462,000 judgment.
Represented paint distributor against international paint manufacturer from South Africa. After negotiations with the South African representative, the firm settled the case with the manufacturer. returning hundreds of thousands of dollars of the clients’ funds and investment in the business, including having paint manufacturer assume client’s existing lease, payroll obligations, etc. This settlement essentially returned to the client all of his investment, and also released him from liability for the leases and other obligations incurred in his business.
Represented plaintiff who was defrauded through a loan modification with a national bank. The bank’s attorney threatened Mr. D’Arcy with “sanctions” if he filed a lawsuit. Undeterred, Mr. D’Arcy filed the lawsuit, and exposed the broken promises. The “receiver” previously appointed by the bank evaded service and tried to hide from us. The case was moved to federal court, and settled on very favorable terms to the client with a substantial payout.
Represented client trying to break its commercial lease with large nationally known landlord. Threatened landlord with the filing of a chapter 11 reorganization, and eventually forced landlord to forgive $120,000 in debts, with no further claims against the client.
Represented commercial tenant sued for breach of commercial lease. Landlord sought nearly $400K in damages. Client fired previous lawyer after 18 months and nothing being accomplished. The firm dismissed the case in less than 21 days, including a threat to sue the plaintiff’s lawyer for malicious prosecution given the obvious fraud committed by the plaintiff against the client. Filed motion for judgment on the pleadings in Los Angeles Superior Court, and forced the plaintiff and its lawyer to abandon its case with no payment to them.
Represented architect scammed by a former partner. Brought an adversary proceeding (lawsuit) in bankruptcy court to have debt deemed non-dischargeable, and took the matter to trial. Judge made tentative ruling that fraud occurred. Successfully opposed Rule 12b motion to dismiss, and motion to dismiss at trial. Successfully opposed and excluded all character evidence. At trial, judge observed that fiduciary fraud could have occurred, forcing defendant to immediately settle on terms favorable to client.
Represented lender in bankruptcy court against debtor. Lender was blocked from foreclosing. Filed motion to lift stay, and forced the debtor to repay all amounts due.
Sued real estate brokers (two of them) for defrauding client. They immediately filed for bankruptcy protection thinking they could escape. They guessed wrong. The firm brought an adversary proceeding in bankruptcy court against both real estate brokers. Brokers hired large law firm which abandoned case after threats to get plaintiff to drop case failed. Successfully defended motion to dismiss, and judgment on the pleadings. Opposing counsel threatened rule 11 sanctions in hopes of getting firm to drop the case. All of it was a bluff. Filed new amended complaint. Judge issued 18 page ruling finding for client on four of the five original claims sued upon. Firm then brought a motion to dismiss the counterclaim. Prior to hearing on the motion, they settled on terms favorable to client.
Represented defendant who purchased a large restaurant. Seller of restaurant agreed to a deal and then denied deal existed. Seller sued client with eleven claims. The firm dismissed nine claims on the first demurrer, including the other plaintiff for lack of standing. Had remaining two claims dismissed after taking plaintiff’s deposition. Case went to trial, and settled on first day of trial in Judge Fell’s courtroom for a payment to the seller that was only a small fraction (and hundreds of thousands less) for what they originally agreed to accept.
Represented contractor who was defrauded by its key employees who set up competing company and diverted nearly $11 million in corporate opportunities to themselves while remaining on the payroll. Case involves 19 defendants and is still being litigated in Complex Court. The firm obtained a preliminary injunction to suspend payment to the defendant, obtained Court approval for a discovery referee, obtained the granting of 12 motions to compel and $29,210 in sanctions against the defendant and its counsel, and successfully opposed over 30 demurrers brought by the defendants to dismiss the case against them. In response to a frivolous motion for sanctions, the firm successfully brought its own motion for sanctions, forcing the opposing counsel to withdraw the motion.
Represented client owed money on a breach of contract claim. Client could not get the return of funds paid to an interior decorator. Firm threatened litigation. Result: the firm negotiated the return of all of the funds requested by client plus 50% more.
Represented Porsche distributor. Competitor was stealing and copying all of the content directly from client’s website. Contacted infringer and issued a take-down letter. Result: competitor erased and took down all copyrighted matter without need to file lawsuit.
Represented business accused of producing counterfeit dental appliances. International law firm brought claims under Lanham Act, copyright, trade dress, trademark and common law claims. Negotiated a joint stipulation that quickly ended the case and preserved the client’s business interests without any finding of liability.
Represented software company accused of breach of contract. Creditor/plaintiff sought to place a lien on all of client’s property while case was being litigated. Defeated the motion, and ultimately settled the claim for a fraction of what was originally sought.
Represented software company who owned common stock in another software company. Defendants sought to squeeze client with no payment for its majority stock ownership. Result: defendants paid hundreds of thousands to client.
Represented dentist in purchase of dental office. Lease could not be signed due to zoning problems. Obtained favorable determination from city regarding zoning issues to enable client to lease the building and to operate for extended hours.
All cases are unique. No representation is made that the results will be as shown below. This is only a partial listing of cases. The firm has provided representation in real estate title and lender priority claims, disputes among businesses, defamation, appellate work, and many other litigation matters. The representation of successful cases does not imply or guarantee the same or better outcome. All cases are unique and dependent upon many factors.