Stoddart

FACTS

A. Background: Stoddart, a certified public accountant, had been an officer and director of various large companies and had been in the printing industry since 1984. Zamora was running a printing company that was in dire financial condition. Stoddart agreed to help out and started working for the company part time for about $100,000 annually. He later became the chief operating officer, eventually earning a salary of $200,000 or $250,000 per year. Stoddart lined up a $9 million investment to keep the company afloat. However, after the deal was consummated, the company could not meet its financial covenants with the investors. So, the investors forced Zamora out of the company.

2 Although Stoddart stayed on for a while longer, the investors ultimately wanted him out of the company too. At some point, Zamora told Stoddart that he was thinking about suing the investors. According to Stoddart, Zamora offered to pay him 10 percent of any litigation recovery if he would help convince some attorneys to take the case on a contingency basis. Stoddart says he rejected the offer, out of fear that it would prejudice any testimony he might give. Further according to Stoddart, after…