Employment and Ownership Disputes Expertise

Altstadt Consulting personnel have testified in many employment and ownership cases.  The types of disputes include employer/employee matters, disputes between shareholders and partners, breach of fiduciary duty matters, misappropriation of trade secrets and other intellectual property and white collar fraud issues.  We have also valued closely-held businesses as a part of many employment and ownership disputes.

Selected Engagements

CAMT, Inc. v. Merle Yost (Robert Currie - Latham & Watkins) Mr. Altstadt analyzed the damages claimed by a minority shareholder in an Orange County Toyota dealership.

Presley Wilkes v. Barbara Hill (Mitchell Shapiro - Shapiro, Posell, Rosendfeld & Close) Mr. Altstadt testified as an expert in Superior Court (San Bernardino County, California) on behalf of the plaintiff in a breach of contract matter involving a disputed option to purchase a minority share of a Ford dealership.

Michael Smits v. Jim Lukens Mr. Altstadt quantified the value of the 10% interest of the minority shareholder in a Nissan dealership in a wrongful termination matter.

Doris Weiss v. Kramer Motors, Inc. (Margaret Henry - Henry & Tenner) Mr. Altstadt testified as an expert in Superior Court (Los Angeles County, California) on behalf of the defendant in a discrimination matter.

Geoff Fearns v. Baldwin Builders (Ralph Blakeney - Pillsbury Madison & Sutro) Mr. Altstadt quantified the damages suffered by one of three executives of Baldwin Builders from the loss of compensation resulting from profits of three large residential projects.

Orval Paul v. Timothy Valles (John Samberg - Bisno & Samberg) Mr. Altstadt evaluated the operations of a Southern California Nissan dealership in a breach of fiduciary duty matter.

William Karges v. Dellis Montell (Harold Light - Law Offices of Harold J. Light) Mr. Altstadt testified as an expert in Superior Court (Los Angeles, California) on behalf of the defendant in a breach of fiduciary duty matter involving the two owners of a Santa Monica BMW dealership.

Jennifer Marilley v. Frisbee Management (Stuart Jasper - Jasper & Jasper) Mr. Altstadt analyzed the operations and potential value of four McDonald's franchises in a breach of fiduciary duty matter stemming from an employment issue.

Michael Treadway v. Steven Hiller, et al.(Stan Jones - Law Offices of Stanley R. Jones) Mr. Altstadt testified as an expert in a JAMS arbitration on behalf of the plaintiff in a breach of fiduciary matter. Testimony included an opinion of the value of the business.

O'Flaherty, et al. v. Belgum, et al. (Stuart Jasper - Jasper & Jasper) Mr. Altstadt testified as an expert witness before the American Arbitration Association on behalf of the respondent in a breach of fiduciary matter.

Copon v. Ritz Carlton, et al. (Steven Belgum - Law Offices of Stephen L. Belgum) Mr. Altstadt assessed the information available for calculating personal economic losses of an employee of the Ritz Carlton.

James Barker v. David J. Wilson, et al. (Stuart Jasper - Jasper & Jasper) Mr. Altstadt testified as an expert witness in a JAMS arbitration on behalf of the plaintiff in a breach of contract matter. Plaintiff was a minority shareholder in an Orange County Toyota dealership.

Eiko Uyeda v. KJI, Inc. et al. (Thomas Borchard - Borchard & Baur) Mr. Altstadt testified as an expert witness in Superior Court (Santa Ana, California) on behalf of the plaintiff in a breach of fiduciary duty matter. Analysis included assessing profit from custom home construction.

Thomas Tooma v. Charles House (Ralph Blakeney - Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman) Mr. Altstadt analyzed accounting and banking records to evaluate alter ego issues between partners involving a large real estate development.

Berkeley Honda Group v. Nielsen, et al. (Greg Simonian - Clapp Moroney, et al.) Mr. Altstadt provided services related to financial analysis and damages in a misappropriation of trade secrets case involving a Honda dealership in Berkeley, California.

RLLW, Inc. v. Julian Mevosian, et al. (Ralph Blakeney - Jones Day) Mr. Altstadt analyzed accounting and banking records to evaluate alter ego issues between the plaintiff corporation and its owners.

William Cantey, et al. v. Brinks, Inc. (Ira Saxe - Crowell & Moring) Mr. Altstadt evaluated four years of supervisor guide sheets to quantify managerial work for a proposed class action matter involving claims for unpaid overtime.

Bradley Cooper v. Cadillac of Whittier (Brian Plessala – Gray Duffy and Ron Brand – Fisher & Phillips) Mr. Altstadt testified as an expert witness in an arbitration on behalf of the defendant in a breach of contract matter involving termination of a sales manager.

ICON Residential Lenders v. Real Estate Mortgage Network (Greg Labate - Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton) Mr. Altstadt provided consulting services to the plaintiff in a Superior Court (Santa Ana) action in a breach of contract matter. Services included quantifying the damages suffered from lost mortgage banking business related to the wholesale taking of plaintiff's employees.

Ornelaz v. San Diego Pacific Oncology and Hematology (William Keith - Duckor Spradling Metzger & Wynne) Mr. Altstadt consulted for the defendant in a wrongful termination matter.

Salhotra v. Shah (Jess Bressi - McKenna Long & Aldridge) Mr. Altstadt testified in a JAMS arbitration in a breach of contract matter between 50% members of an LLC. Services included a complete accounting of construction costs of a $10 million retail commercial property in Yucca Valley, CA.

Reynoso v. Galmarini (Doug Plazak - Reid & Hellyer) Mr. Altstadt provided consulting services to the defendant in a Superior Court (San Bernardino) action in a breach of fiduciary duty matter.  Services included assessing the damage claims of the plaintiff.

Murray v. loandepot.com (Greg Labate - Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton) Mr. Altstadt analyzed the damages claimed related to ownership units of an employee in an Orange County loan origination company.

Keenan, et al. v. Souza, et al. (Paul Mahoney - Mahoney & Soll) Mr. Altstadt testified in Superior Court (Los Angeles) on behalf of the plaintiffs in a breach of fiduciary duty matter.  Analysis included the assessment of the financial disclosures provided by the defendants in a real estate development in Hemet, CA.

A-Check America, Inc. v. Carlos Lacambra (Ruben Escalante - Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton) Mr. Altstadt provided consulting services to the defendant in an ADR arbitration action in a breach of contract matter. Services included valuing the minority share interest owned by the defendant.

Jeffrey Evans v. Martin Project Management (Veronica Gray - Nossaman) Mr. Altstadt testified in AAA arbitration on behalf of the plaintiff in a breach of contract matter.  Analysis included the assessment of the financial condition of the defendant company.

Timothy Beatty v. Catalina Island Yacht Club (Jeffrey Cunningham - Schumann Rosenberg) Mr. Altstadt provided consulting services to the defendant in a Superior Court (Orange County) action in a libel and slander matter.  Services included assessing the profitability of the plaintiff's business.

Lemelle-Zeidner v. Skyline Financial (Greg Labate - Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton) On behalf of the defendant, Mr. Altstadt analyzed the financial condition of the company and presented the findings at mediation.

Gayle McGuire v. Automobile Club of Southern California (Garrett Jensen - Carothers, DiSante & Freudenberger) Mr. Altstadt provided consulting services to the defendant in a Superior Court (Los Angeles) action in an age discrimination matter.  Services included assessing the potential damage claims of the plaintiff.

Merardo Cruz v. Trans Ocean Carrier, Inc. (Adam Rosenthal - Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton Mr. Altstadt provided consulting services to the respondent in a JAMS Arbitration in an independent contractor class action matter.  Services included analysis of the financial condition of the respondent and presenting the findings at mediation.

Brandon Drake v. Pirch, Inc. (Eric Wersching - Ross Wersching & Wolcott) Mr. Altstadt testified in AAA arbitration on behalf of the plaintiff in a wrongful termination matter.  Analyses included quantifying the plaintiff's damages and the assessment of the financial condition of the defendant company.

Brian Harkins v. Major League Baseball, et al. (Daniel Rasmussen, Esq.) Mr. Altstadt provided consulting services to the defendant in a Superior Court (Orange County) action in a defamation matter.  Services included quantifying the special damage claims of the plaintiff.

Acrisure of California v. T London Insurance Services (Tom Vincent - Payne & Fears and Mark Erickson - Haynes & Boone) Mr. Altstadt provided a Rule 26 report and a deposition in a U.S. District Court (Los Angeles) matter on behalf of the defendant in a breach of contract matter.  Analyses included critiquing the damages of the plaintiff and quantifying the overtime hour damage claim of the defendant.