Kenly

Plaintiff Lindsey David Kenly (Kenly) sued defendants Hiroshi Ukegawa (Ukegawa), Vista Loma Investments, a California general partnership (Vista Loma), and Ukegawa Brothers, a California general partnership (Ukegawa Brothers) for fraud. Kenly prevailed and recovered an award of $800,000 in compensatory damages and $200,000 in punitive damages.

Defendants do not challenge the liability determination on Kenly’s fraud claim, but do contest the propriety of the amount of compensatory damages. Similarly, defendants concede substantial evidence supports a punitive damage award in some amount, but argue the award must be reversed because it is unsupported by any evidence of defendants’ net worth. Finally, defendants argue that any award against Ukegawa Brothers, whether compensatory or punitive, is improper. After a brief review of the facts, we will address defendants’ claims.

1. Factual Background

The lawsuit grew out of an oral offer by Ukegawa to sell a 100-plus-acre farm (the farm) to Kenly and his partner William Johnson (Johnson). In 1988 Ukegawa was a general partner in Vista Loma, which owned the farm. At that time the property was encumbered by numerous liens,…