Fuller

Fuller v. Heurlin

Good Law
176 Cal. App. 4th 279
Court of Appeal of CaliforniaAugust 4, 2009No. G040506California3,165 words

Opinion

lead Opinion

Ikola, J.

Appellant John M. Heurlin appeals from the judgment entered in the voluntary dissolution of FairWageLaw (FairWage), a professional corporation of which he was a shareholder. He challenges the court’s finding he was not a party to the voluntary dissolution proceeding, which led the court to deny his efforts to secure discovery, obtain summary judgment, and call witnesses at the dissolution hearing.

Heurlin further contends the court violated his right to due process by entering judgment against him. The dissolution judgment assessed FairWage’s dissolution litigation expenses against Heurlin’s shareholder interest, and ordered him to pay FairWage the deficiency of $19,422.

*282 On this latter issue, we reverse. Like shareholders generally, Heurlin was not a party to the dissolution proceeding. The dissolution petition did not give Heurlin notice FairWage would seek to recover its litigation expenses from him. And because Heurlin was a nonparty, the dissolution hearing did not afford him the opportunity to be heard on these claims. The court and counsel, mired in an infrequently invoked proceeding for judicial supervision of the voluntary winding up of a corporation, lost…

Sign in to read the full opinion

Create a free account to read the complete opinion text, citation history, and good-law status for this case.