Brockey v. Moore

107 Cal. App. 4th 86 (2003) ; Clearinghouse Number: 55179

Description

California Appellate Court Upholds Injunction and Jury’s Damages Award Against Entity Purporting to Offer “Legal Aid”

Abstract

The California Court of Appeal affirmed a jury’s award of damages and the trial court’s permanent injunction against defendant. Plaintiff low-income individuals received unlawful detainer summonses advising them that they could seek help from “an attorney referral service or a legal aid office.” Plaintiffs consulted their local telephone directory or directory assistance for “legal aid” and found a local telephone number for defendant’s business in another part of the state. When contacted, defendant or his employees instructed plaintiffs to wire money and, without further discussion, sent them form answers with the general denial box checked and “will discuss with the judge at the time of trial” included as a purported affirmative defense. At trial, plaintiffs testified that they had thought that they were contacting a “legal aid” entity through which attorneys represented low-income people free of charge. On defendant’s appeal, the court, noting defendant’s failure to “faithfully recite the facts supporting the verdict and the injunction” and “skew[ing] in [his] favor” the facts he did mention, deemed all defendant’s evidentiary arguments waived. The appellate court stated that defendant’s advertisements were “calculated to mislead” and that adjusting the “reasonable consumer” standard was appropriate when dealing with an unsophisticated audience. The appellate court affirmed the trial court’s action taking judicial notice of the term “legal aid” as used in the summons form to mean “a publicly funded nonprofit law corporation which provides free legal services to low-income eligible clients.” Noting that the unfair competition law gave courts great latitude to protect the public, the court found defendant’s objections to the injunction against him “meritless.”

Additional Information

Attorney Information
Docket Date
2003-03-18 00:00:00+00:00

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