Clients' Fraud Claims Against Defense Attorney Not Subject to Dismissal as SLAPP

A California appellate court this week ruled that a pair of disgruntled clients can proceed with claims of fraud and misrepresentation against the attorney they had hired to provide defense in a workers’ compensation and employment law dispute. Maryam Ershadi and Ebrahim Moshiri had hired Amir Mostafavi and the Mostafavi Law Group in 2014. At the time, Mostafavi allegedly held himself out as an expert in the field of labor law, with many years of experience, but he had in fact been licensed to practice law only since 2012. According to the clients, Mostafavi also assured them that...