LOS ANGELES, California — In a brand new court order, WBS, INC., has been ordered to pay for Juan Croucier‘s legal fees and counsel totalling nearly a quarter of a million dollars.
In one of the many Ratt related lawsuits that have been playing out for a few years now, it appears that this particular lawsuit is final.
The United States District Court Central District of California has closed the case (Dkt. 183) and Judge Dean D. Pregerson has hereby ordered the Plaintiff (WBS. INC.,) to pay the Defendant (Croucier) the sum of $232,927.50.
The courts have also ordered that counsel (Drew Sherman and Adlit Law) be liabel for $85,357.50 of that amount.
Judge Pregerson signed off on the order last week.
Court documents filed on March 11th 2020, note that Case 2:15-cv-07251-DDP-JC Document 256 Filed 03/11/20 is in short, not good news for Bobby Blotzer and the WBS, INC., camp.
A 10 page court document outlines much of went on previously with the case including the following excerpts.
Page 4, Section B reads: “This is an “exceptional” case This Court has, notwithstanding its initial denial of attorney fees, repeatedly highlighted Plaintiff’s improper litigation conduct. In its summary judgment order, for example, the court noted that Plaintiff had violated several local rules and unconvincingly attempted to shift blame for those violations to Croucier’s counsel.”
Page 8, Section D continues: “Indeed, the court’s references to Plaintiff’s “vexatious approach to this litigation” and “repeated failures to follow procedural rules” suggest that such an award would be justified. In light of that suggestion, and upon further review of the record, this Court finds that Plaintiff’s counsel Drew Sherman and Adli Law did unreasonably and vexatiously multiply the proceedings in this case. The court further finds that Defendant’s submissions adequately identify the particular billing items attributable to counsel’s improper conduct. 4”
Page 9, lines 18 thru 24, Page 10, lines 1-3 reads as follows: “Although the pattern and substance of Plaintiff’s numerous filings might itself support a sanctions award under Section 1927, evidence in the record confirms that counsel often acted in bad faith to prolong the litigation, with no legitimate purpose. Indeed, it appears from the record that counsel pursued certain strategies for no reason other than to inconvenience opposing counsel, and in some instances may have acted in opposition to his client’s wishes.6 Accordingly, Drew Sherman and Adli Law shall be liable for $85,357.50 of the $232,927.50 awarded to Defendant Croucier.”
In the end it looks like Croucier and company were victorious and Blotzer the loser in this round of the Ratt heavy-weight bout.
We will keep you updated when news comes our way regarding Ratt.
