Z Novym Rokom

Happy New Year to all readers, including those in the Ukraine, who, for reasons that escape me, have visited this blog more than 1000 times in 2011.  With almost 100 posts this year, I hope to keep up the pace in 2012. 

It's been an enjoyable return to private practice.  With Sharon Kirsch and Matt Schechter of McManis Faulkner we were able to convince Judge James Kleinberg of the Santa Clara County Superior Court to grant both a motion for nonsuit and a motion for court judgment in favor of the defendant in the same case!  This class action lawsuit, brought by current and former dealers at a local card club, raised both legal and equitable claims arising out of the club's requirement that dealers contribute a portion of their tips to a tip pool for the benefit of other employees who provide service to the patrons.  The claims were tried simultaneously to the court and the jury, but the court granted defendant's motions at the conclusion of the plaintiff's case.

Another highlight of the year was working with Joel Zeldin and Felicia Draper of Shartsis Friese to obtain a $3 million right to attach order from Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Peter Kirwan to secure a potential judgment for services rendered by a major commercial real estate brokerage in connection with the potential sale of acreage in South San Jose.

I also had the pleasure of assisting local attorney Ed Sousa in the preparation of a motion for new trial after his post-trial appointment to represent a defendant convicted of solicitation of murder.  Sousa was faced with the daunting task of reviewing thousands of pages of trial transcript and voluminous investigative materials of both the prosecution and defense in a matter of a few months.  But the court is now considering the defendant's motion, which asserts claims of ineffective assistance of trial counsel, instructional error, prosecutorial misconduct and trial error, including denial of defendant's right to confront the witnesses against him.

I look forward to 2012 and the opportunity to work with other outstanding attorneys on pretrial, trial and post-trial issues while keeping trial lawyers and judges current on the latest legal developments here in California.  And what's happening in California is, apparently, a subject of great interest in the Ukraine.