BREHM COMMUNITIES v. Superior Court

In ordering the trial court to vacate an order finding a settlement to be in good faith under Code of Civil Procedure section 877.6 (all further statutory references are to this code except as otherwise noted), we hold that settling parties must present competent evidence of the value of nonmonetary consideration to be transferred by them, and that the value of this consideration must be reduced by the value of any consideration passing from the plaintiffs to the settling defendants.

Facts

In this class action, plaintiffs sued 37 named defendants, in addition to 200 Does. Their 64-page second amended complaint asserts some 27 separate causes of action. Different causes of action are asserted against different defendants. The gist of the complaint is that defendants National Investors Financial Inc. (NIF) and its principals James Orth, Sue Orth, and David Lasker (deceased), the latter three characterized by plaintiffs as “Controlling Defendants,” engaged in a scheme to defraud plaintiffs in the sale of securities. The remaining defendants include professionals, financial institutions, contractors, and others who allegedly participated in or facilitated the fraud or,…