Nabors Internat. Finance v. Lawyers Aset Research Serv. CA2/8

FACTS

In August 2010, Nabors International Finance, Inc. (Nabors) filed an action against Lawyers Asset Research Service, LLC (LARS)1 alleging that LARS had obtained approximately $270,000 rightfully belonging to Nabors. In January 2011, Nabors filed its operative first amended complaint alleging causes of action listed respectively as follows: breach of written contract; money had and received; conversion; fraud; fraudulent transfer; constructive fraudulent transfer; claim on behalf of creditors based on third-party’s illegal distribution of debtor’s assets; claim on behalf of creditors for improper distributions; and breach of fiduciary duty. Nabors’s action consisted of allegations that LARS misused a limited power of attorney to get a state franchise tax board to cancel a tax refund check payable to Nabors, and to issue a new check payable to LARS. LARS then deducted a fee, the $270,000 noted above, for finding Nabors’s “lost” or “unclaimed” or “abandoned” asset, and forwarded the remaining amount on to Nabors. In February 2011, LARS answered the first amended complaint. On August 31, 2011, the trial court entered an order granting Nabors’s motion for summary adjudication of…