Estate of McMahon CA1/1

BACKGROUND

David McMahon was an attorney who specialized in performing legal audits—i.e., he reviewed attorneys’ fees for insurance companies and other

1 individuals and entities to insure they were reasonable and necessary, and the client was not overpaying. McMahon also testified at trials as an expert witness with respect to the reasonableness of such fees. To perform this work, McMahon was required to generate detailed audits of the billing records at issue. In January 2016, McMahon left his law firm and went into business for himself, focusing on his legal audit work. He enlisted the services of Victoria Boyko, his former legal assistant; Bogdan Viner, Boyko’s life partner who had a background in IT; and Esfir Viner, Bogdan’s sister who had an accounting background.1 After working together successfully for slightly over a year, McMahon’s relationships with Boyko, Bogdan, and Esfir soured, and they ceased working for him. In November 2018, Esfir filed a complaint against McMahon, alleging, as relevant here, causes of action for unpaid wages (Lab. Code, §§ 201, 204); waiting time penalties (id., § 203); unfair business practices under the Unfair Competition Law (Bus. & Prof.…