Crooymans

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

We draw the facts from the findings set forth in the final arbitration award, which we assume are true for purposes of this appeal. (See Moncharsh v. Heily & Blase (1992) 3 Cal.4th 1, 11 (Moncharsh) [“[A] court may not review the sufficiency of the evidence supporting an arbitrator’s award.”].) 1. Factual Background For over 30 years, until his death in 2013, Preston King was the manager and full owner of BIG Enterprises, Inc., a successful manufacturer of parking lot “boothettes.” In the mid-1980’s, King formed a personal and professional relationship with Bruce Givner, an estate and tax planning attorney who held himself out as an expert on an aggressive estate tax reduction strategy known as a private annuity. In June 2007, King entered into an engagement agreement with Givner for tax planning legal representation. In 2012, around the same time King was in negotiations to sell BIG Enterprises for over $20 million, he learned he had Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer—a diagnosis that he communicated to his tax planning attorney. In August 2012, King stopped all sale negotiations for BIG Enterprises and, in the months that followed, Givner…