Soriano

Background World Marketers, the entity responsible for the promotional materials on which plaintiff relied, was owned by defendant McCord. McCord's legal counsel was respondent Chew. Chew and McCord held meetings in 2008 to discuss a new program McCord wanted to set up to help homeowners stay longer in their homes when facing foreclosure. In his deposition testimony1 McCord described his service as a "stall tactic," a way clients could buy time to avert foreclosure for "anywhere from 12 to 18 months," by filing lawsuits against their lenders. McCord developed a set of marketing materials that included "Frequently Asked Questions" (FAQs) Chew had been using in his own law practice. Chew reviewed a "Consulting Services Agreement" prepared by McCord to use in his program. According to McCord, Chew also reviewed the FAQs and told him they were legally "acceptable." Chew, however, denied this fact and insisted that someone associated with McCord had taken the FAQs from Chew's website. Plaintiff became a client of World Marketers in 2008, after attending several seminars run by McCord about the "mortgage referendum program." Through these presentations and in subsequent…