Tishgart v. Feder
Filed 4/28/06 Tishgart v. Feder CA1/3
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules of Court, rule 977(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 977(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT
DIVISION THREE
| KENNETH B. TISHGART, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. JOHN FEDER et al., Defendants and Respondents. | A111275 (Marin County Super. Ct. No. CV040254) |
Attorney Kenneth Tishgart sued attorney John Feder, Feder's partner Ronald Rouda and their law firm for their alleged interference in his contract with client Ratana Trisirikul. The trial court granted summary judgment for the defendants on the ground that Feder did not cause Trisirikul's discharge of Tishgart from her employ. Because a question of fact remains regarding whether Feder's conduct was the motivating factor in Trisirikul's decision to fire Tishgart, we reverse.
BACKGROUND
Fred Louie was killed in an accident on June 13, 2002. He was survived by his wife, Ratana Trisirikul, and three adult daughters from a prior marriage, Kristine Louie,[1] Karen Lemmons, and Rochelle Chew. Two days after his death Trisirikul, Louie, and Chew retained Tishgart to represent them in a wrongful death action. Trisirikul, then in a state of shock and confusion, felt that Louie and Louie's husband rushed her into hiring Tishgart.
Lemmons decided against hiring Tishgart. Instead she sought a referral from a cousin, and on his recommendation retained the firm of Rouda, Feder, Tietjen and Zanobini to represent her in a wrongful death action.
Over the next few months Trisirikul became dissatisfied with Tishgart. She found him to be short-tempered and impatient. He failed to return phone calls, and his Marin office was inconvenient. Tishgart told Trisirikul that he had a San Francisco office, but he never seemed to be there.
Chew shared her stepmother's misgivings about Tishgart and was concerned to learn that Tishgart had trouble with the California State Bar over an ethical violation. She also felt uncomfortable that she hired a lawyer so soon after her father's death and without a direct personal or family reference. Based on these concerns, at the end of August 2002 she discharged Tishgart. Chew explained that â€
