Ajay Gupta and Chris S. Evans Obtain Six-Figure Jury Verdict For Client in Property Dispute
Gupta Evans and Ayres is proud to announce they were able to secure another resounding victory and six-figure verdict for their client after over four years of litigation and a hard-fought jury trial in San Diego County.
GEA represented a purchaser of a home in Oceanside that the purchaser later discovered to be littered with an assortment of undisclosed defects and faulty repairs. The Firm began representing the client in early 2017, which would begin what would become a marathon of litigation and include a litany of hotly contested issues, complete with extensive discovery and motion practice (and, of course, a global pandemic). Although the case concluded as a trial between a buyer and seller of residential real estate, the case began with three times the parties and several cross-complaints and competing defenses, all of which had to be resolved before trial.
Finally, after over four years of litigation, and a seven-day jury trial before Judge Blaine Bowman in the North County branch of San Diego Superior Court, the Firm established that the sellers of the home were liable to the client-buyer for breach of contract, fraud (intentional and negligent misrepresentation) and engaging in work as an unlicensed contractor. After establishing such liability, the jury returned a six-figure verdict in favor of the firm’s client.
As the prevailing party at trial, the Firm was then also able to succeed on a post-judgment motion for attorneys’ fees and costs incurred by their client throughout the course of the litigation, in part by successfully arguing the “intertwinement” of the tort and contract causes of action.
After resolving claims against parties other than the seller pre-trial, and upon the successful jury verdict and attorneys’ fees motion, the client was granted a total award of approximately $540,000, inclusive of punitive damages. Congratulations to trial counsel Ajay Gupta and Chris S. Evans for bringing this case across the finish line and obtaining a victory for the Firm’s client!
