New CA Torts Case

I do three things - all CA civil law related:

• I serve as a mediator, arbitrator and referee with ADR Services, Inc. conducting Zoom and in-person hearings throughout California. I relentlessly pursue closure as a mediator. As an arbitrator and referee, I preside over relaxed and friendly hearings, carefully review all admitted evidence, and issue fair and impartial decisions. I handle matters in the areas of business, employment, insurance (bad faith, coverage, UIM), probate, real property, and torts (elder abuse, legal malpractice, medical malpractice, personal injury, product liability, and wrongful death).  
• I provide Master Lawyer Mentoring™ services to law firms to train their associates to quickly master essential skills, strategically work up their cases, and obtain excellent results for their clients and the law firm. 
• I publish California Case Summaries™, preparing one-paragraph summaries of every new case published in California in annual, quarterly and monthly publications. My summaries give subscribers a competitive advantage. They always know the new case law and apply it to their cases to work up their cases better, make better arguments, get bigger settlements and win more summary judgments and trials.

Knowing the new case law makes me an excellent mediator, arbitrator, referee and mentor. In this blog post, I discuss a new civil case that was published last month. 

Is Unclean Hands a Defense to Malicious Prosecution?

Is unclean hands a defense to a cause of action for malicious prosecution? Last month, the Sixth District Court of Appeal published a new decision addressing this issue. To find out what they decided, watch the video and read my case summary below.

New CA Tort Decision  

Padideh v. Moradi (2023) _ Cal.App.5^th _ , 2023 WL 2555457: The Court of Appeal affirmed the jury verdict for defendants (based upon their unclean hands defense) in plaintiff’s action for malicious prosecution. Unclean hands can be a defense to a malicious prosecution action. Whether the particular misconduct is a bar to the alleged claim for relief depends on (1) analogous case law, (2) the nature of the misconduct, and (3) the relationship of the misconduct to the claimed injuries. In this case, the misconduct was plaintiff’s untruthful deposition testimony in the underlying action, a lawsuit between plaintiff’s husband and the other dentist owner Dr. Ramin Moradi regarding their dental corporation, where plaintiff testified she had little involvement in the dental practice, no access to business bank accounts, no business credit cards, etc. Based upon this testimony, in the underlying action defendants Dr. Ramin Moradi and his attorney Ali Kamarei decided to stop pursuing plaintiff as a cross-defendant, did not oppose the trial court’s tentative ruling sustaining a demurrer in plaintiff’s favor in the underlying case, did not seek to amend their cross-complaint against plaintiff, and made no settlement demand in exchange for releasing plaintiff from the underlying case. The Court of Appeal concluded that all three requirements for applying the unclean hands defense were met. The first was met as a matter of law, and the last two were supported by substantial evidence. The Court of Appeal also held that a defendant asserting unclean hands in defense to a malicious-prosecution action need not demonstrate additional harm or prejudice as part of or in addition to the third requirement addressing the relationship between the misconduct and the claimed harm. (C.A. 6th, March 17, 2023.)   

Mediation, Arbitration and Referee Services

I help attorneys and their clients throughout California as a mediator, arbitrator and referee at ADR Services, Inc. I handle business, commercial, employment, insurance (bad faith, coverage, UIM), probate, real property, and tort (elder abuse, legal malpractice, medical malpractice, personal injury, product liability and wrongful death) cases. I've been a California civil trial lawyer since 1980 and a member of ABOTA since 1995. I've represented both plaintiffs and defendants in a wide variety of civil cases including the areas listed above. To schedule a new matter, please contact one of my case manager at ADR services, Ins., Haward Cho, [email protected], (213) 683-1600, or Rachael Boughan, [email protected], (619) 233-1323,  

California Case Summaries™

Best regards,
Monty A. McIntyre, Esq.
Mediator, Arbitrator & Referee
Master Lawyer Mentoring™
California Case Summaries™
CA Civil Trial Attorney Since 1980
ABOTA Member Since 1995
Past President: San Diego County Bar Assn.
Past President: SD ABOTA Chapter
Phone: (619) 990-4312. Email: [email protected]