Panoutsopoulos

Background The present dispute arises out of a lengthy history of litigation, the details of which need not be considered in order to resolve the issue now before the court. In brief, plaintiffs are former commercial tenants of KFLP who previously operated a café at the leased premises. Karsant is the managing general partner of KFLP. Plaintiffs filed the present action in February 2014, alleging that Karsant and KFLP fraudulently induced them to enter a settlement of a prior suit between the same parties, in which Karsant and KFLP had agreed to offer a proposed lease of the premises to a potential purchaser of the café on certain terms. Karsant and KFLP, represented by defendants, filed a cross- complaint against plaintiffs alleging, among other things, conversion of property removed from the premises at the expiration of plaintiffs’ lease and causing damage to the property, interfering with KFLP’s ability to release the premises. In May 2015, two and a half weeks before the case was set for trial, the cross-complainants dismissed the cross- complaint with prejudice, allegedly without the payment of any consideration by plaintiffs. The case did not then proceed to trial and in…