Klotz

Defendants Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy (Milbank) and Deborah Festa (Festa) appeal the trial court’s order overruling their demurrer and denying their motion to strike the first amended complaint under Civil Code section 1714.10. Plaintiffs SageMill LLC (SageMill), Adam M. Klotz (Klotz) and Richard Spitz (Spitz) alleged that a former business associate of theirs, Stephen Bruce (Bruce), who was a client of defendants, conspired with defendants to unlawfully withdraw from SageMill and to usurp a náscent business opportunity of SageMill. Plaintiffs alleged claims for breach of fiduciary duty, conspiracy, and legal malpractice, and defendants moved to strike the entire complaint as to the individual plaintiffs Klotz and Spitz because defendants had no independent legal duty to plaintiffs nor did they act for their personal financial gain. The trial court denied the motion. We reverse the trial court’s order on plaintiffs’ second cause of action for conspiracy as to the individual plaintiffs Klotz and Spitz, finding that any advice defendants gave Bruce arose from an attempt to contest or compromise a claim or dispute, and thus was within the ambit of section 1714.10, and…