8/23/11

William L. Steel

Orlando Cabanday and Stephen Chang, attorneys at Samuels, Green & Steel, LLP, recently obtained a jury verdict for a client who sought to purchase a commercial property in Los Angeles. The jury determined that the escrow company failed to meet a mandatory escrow deadline and failed to timely request the buyer’s 1031 exchange funds. The jury also found that the escrow company concealed evidence and entered into a secret agreement with the seller not to meet the escrow deadlines. The jury awarded the buyer $1.5 million in compensatory damages and $750,000 in punitive damages.

During the trial, the escrow company claimed the buyer failed to provide a document essential to the escrow closing, and the records it produced at trial did not include that document. However, Samuels, Green & Steel, LLP, obtained the document from a third party, who testified at trial that he timely provided it to the escrow company. The judge permitted jury instructions regarding intentional concealment of evidence and the jury found for the buyer on all claims.