Lofton

This case was brought on behalf of home mortgage consultants working for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage (Wells Fargo) seeking damages for unpaid wages. It is related to class action litigation initiated by Attorneys Kevin McInerney and James Clapp (class counsel) in 2005. In 2006 and 2007, appellant Initiative Legal Group, APC (ILG), filed similar putative class actions in different superior courts. Thereafter, additional actions were filed by both class counsel and ILG, culminating in the filing by class counsel of the present action to facilitate the request for approval of a class action settlement. (See generally Thayer v. Wells Fargo Bank (2001) 92 Cal.App.4th 819 [ 112 Cal.Rptr.2d 284 ]; In re Vitamin Cases (2003) 110 Cal.App.4th 1041 [ 2 Cal.Rptr.3d 358 ].) A customary course for such multiple actions is coordination or effectively the consolidation of the proceedings before the first court to acquire jurisdiction over the dispute under the doctrine of concurrent exclusive jurisdiction. (Franklin & Franklin v. 7-Eleven Owners for Fair Franchising (2000) 85 Cal.App.4th 1168, 1175 [ 102 Cal.Rptr.2d 770 ].)

In many respects, that did not happen with these cases. The…