Robbins

In this malicious prosecution action, plaintiffs and appellants Howard J. Robbins and the Howard J. Robbins Family Trust of 1989 (collectively Robbins) appeal from a judgment of dismissal following the sustaining of demurrers in favor of defendants and respondents James Sessions and Sessions Tank Liners, Inc. (collectively Sessions) and Sessions’s counsel, Blecher & Collins, Maxwell M. Blecher and Donald R. Pepperman (collectively Attorneys). Sessions brought an alter ego action against Robbins to enforce a judgment it had obtained against Robbins’s corporation. When the judgment against the corporation was reversed on appeal, Sessions dismissed the alter ego action. The sole issue presented on appeal is whether the voluntary dismissal of the alter ego action constituted a favorable termination on the merits. We conclude that when an action brought to enforce a judgment is voluntarily dismissed after reversal on appeal of the underlying judgment, the voluntary dismissal does not constitute a favorable termination on the merits. We affirm.

Facts and Procedural Background

The material facts are undisputed. In 1984, Sessions, represented by Attorneys, brought a federal…