Civil Litigation,
Law Practice
May 1, 2013
When does a demand letter become extortion?
Sadly, a new court ruling affirms the problematic notion that if phrased incorrectly, lawyers can be sued for their words.
Timothy D. Reuben
Reuben MediationTim Reuben spent more than 40 years handling complex legal disputes in California's state and federal courts. As the founder and managing partner of Reuben Raucher & Blum in Los Angeles, he has worked on a wide range of matters through jury and bench trials, arbitration, mediation, judicial reference, and settlement conferences across multiple areas of civil law, including commercial, real estate, construction, employment, intellectual property, insurance, professional liability, and unfair competition.
One of the most common tasks lawyers perform is sending demand letters - but as the 2nd District Court of Appeal recently warned: be careful how you do it! In Mendoza v. Hamzeh, 2013 DJDAR 5202 (2013), Justice Victoria Chaney, writing for a unanimous court (Justices Robert Mallano and Jeffrey Johnson concurring), affirmed Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mary Ann Murphy in denying an anti-SLAPP motion by a lawyer who was sued for extortion because of his demand letter.
For only $95 a month (the price of 2 article purchases)
Receive unlimited article access and full access to our archives,
Daily Appellate Report, award winning columns, and our
Verdicts and Settlements.
Or
$795 for an entire year!
Or access this article for $45
(Purchase provides 7-day access to this article. Printing, posting or downloading is not allowed.)
Already a subscriber?
Sign In