Pba, LLC v. Kpod, Ltd.

This appeal is the latest episode in a long story of litigation commencing in 1997. At different stages it was heard by five judicial officers, culminating in a record of nearly 20,000 pages. The action involves the purchase, operation and eventual sale of a hotel, the Carson Hilton, by three joint venturers, PBA, LLC (hereafter PBA), KRAD Associates, LLC (hereafter KRAD), and KPOD Ltd. (hereafter KPOD).

After a brief relationship between the companies and their principals characterized primarily by disputes over management, allegations of mismanagement, and general discord, the hotel was partitioned by sale, its liabilities paid, and the remaining proceeds apportioned. Various cross-complaints between the companies and their principals were disposed of by dismissal or trial.

PBA’s appeal focuses primarily on rulings made by Judge Gale, contending he “acted as a de facto court of appeal, overturning sound and well-grounded decisions . . . made by prior judges and, sometimes by courts of appeal. . . .” PBA argues Judge Gale abused his discretion and exceeded his jurisdiction by making rulings contrary to his predecessors, principally Judge Morgan, in violation of Code of…