Law Offices of Ian Herzog v. Law Offices of Joseph M. Fredrics

GODOY PEREZ, J.

Defendants and appellants Joseph M. Fredrics and the law office which bears his name appeal from the orders confirming and entering judgment on an arbitration award in favor of plaintiffs and respondents, lawyer Ian Herzog and his law office. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm that order.

Facts and Procedural History

Lawyer Joseph M. Fredrics represented Elizabeth Castillo, the plaintiff in an insurance bad faith action. Fredrics associated as cocounsel lawyer Ian Herzog. A jury awarded Castillo a multimillion dollar verdict, which the insurer appealed. Herzog handled the appeal and the matter later settled. When Fredrics disputed Herzog’s right to a fee for his appellate work, Herzog sued Fredrics. During the course of those proceedings, Fredrics was represented by his own firm.

In January 1996, Herzog and Fredrics stipulated to resolve the matter through binding arbitration and had the case removed from the civil active list, pending a written stipulation to be signed by the parties. Fredrics refused to sign a stipulation unless it stated that an award in his favor would be considered a favorable termination for purposes of a malicious…