Law Firm Facing Disciplinary Action Drops Suits

A Beverly Hills law firm accused of using the state’s powerful Unfair Competition Law to extort quick settlements from auto repair garages and restaurants has abandoned consumer lawsuits against nearly 3,000 defendants after a judge deemed the firm unfit to pursue some of the litigation.

The Trevor Law Group, which is facing disciplinary proceedings before the State Bar of California as well as a lawsuit filed by the state attorney general, informed more than 1,000 restaurant owners Tuesday that it was dismissing unfair competition complaints against them. The announcement follows a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge’s decision last month to dismiss unfair competition suits against roughly 1,600 auto repair businesses in the county.

Defendants charged that the law firm used the Internet and state databases to concoct false or frivolous claims against the businesses, then demanded cash settlements of thousands of dollars. The Unfair Competition Law, also known as Business and Professions Code 17200, allows private individuals or nonprofit groups to sue businesses that engage in unfair practices, such as price fixing and false advertising. On March 28, Judge Carl J. West ordered the auto repair suits dismissed because they did not benefit the public, among other reasons, according to Ed Sybesma, the lead liaison attorney for the defendants.

Trevor Law Group has announced that it will appeal the decision, and similar cases it has filed against roughly 500 auto repair shops in Orange County remain active.

The restaurant lawsuits were dismissed on the eve of a hearing with West, according to Robert Fong, a lawyer representing a group of restaurants sued by the Trevor Law Group.

“We’re glad to see these dismissals,” Fong said. “It marks the end of this style of 17200 cases. They were ill-conceived and abusive.”

Trevor Law Group attorneys declined to comment Tuesday and referred all questions to their lawyer Kevin Gerry, who is representing them in State Bar proceedings and in the attorney general’s suit. Gerry did not return calls Tuesday, but the dropping of the lawsuits was confirmed by the attorney general’s office.

On April 17, the State Bar Court is scheduled to consider temporarily blocking the firm and its lawyers from practicing law. State Bar officials have said they will ask the state Supreme Court to disbar the lawyers, but those proceedings will take place over an extended period of time.

In February, Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer filed a lawsuit against the firm alleging that the lawyers themselves violated the Unfair Competition Law when they filed suit against the garages and restaurants.