Equitable Estoppel Theory Was Not Supported By The Evidence.
On December 19, 2012, we posted on Barnes, Crosby, Fitzgerald & Zeman, LLP v. Ringler, 212 Cal.App.4th 172 (2012) [discussed in our December 19, 2012 post], which held that a party may be equitably estopped from enforcing the rule which prohibits attorney fee splitting where one party prevented the other from obtaining the necessary written consent from a client. The matter was remanded for a trial on this narrow issue. We can now report the trial judge, on remand, found no proof supported the equitable estoppel exception. The 4/3 DCA, in Barnes, Crosby, Fitzgerald & Zeman, LLP v. Ringler, Case No. G053966 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Jan. 31, 2019) (unpublished), affirmed the trial court’s determination, because the evidence did not support that the class representative was swapped out for improper purposes (the basis for equitable estoppel) and the proof actually showed that the party claiming estoppel was the one preventing the required disclosure. Justice Ikola authored the 3-0 opinion.