Upping the ante in their fight over class action ethics, two Bay Area attorneys have sued one of the state’s largest plaintiff shops, alleging that it’s a vehicle for hiding assets from their $20 million fraud suit.
Mark Chavez and Richard Zitrin allege that after they brought a fraud suit against Initiative Legal Group last summer, the firm began shifting its most valuable asset — pending contingency fee cases — to a new firm called Capstone Law APC.
Since October, 48 attorneys from Initiative Legal Group, or ILG as it’s known, have moved to Capstone, which is housed in the same Century City business complex as ILG. Many of those attorneys have since appeared under Capstone’s name in litigation that originated with ILG — but without filing substitution, association or even change-of-address forms, the attorneys allege.
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As necessary background, it should be mentioned that Mr. Fishkin is a Jew. He lived for many years in San Francisco, and is quite liberal in his politics. For example, a few weeks ago he gave a speech at a Reform synagogue in Walnut Creek in support of gay marriage. Likewise, Mr. Fishkin supported efforts to allow a lesbian high school student to attend her high school prom with her girlfriend. Nothing mentioned in this paragraph as part of Mr. Fishkin’ background presents any problem; in fact, his support and efforts on behalf of gay civil rights should be commended. Rather, the information is included to provide context for his comments and actions described below.
First Act of Misconduct–
Simply put, Mr. Fishkin engages in discriminatory practices and speech that demonstrate invidious animosity toward a group different from that to which he belongs, namely White Christians. This is particularly true if the individuals in question are members of the lower/middle working class and appear to be people of faith.
As is evident from Mr. Fishkin’ Facebook postings, the average middle-class Christian white family is an irritant to him, and he holds in his heart enormous animosity and contempt toward them.
As such, he often uses pejorative and demeaning stereotypes to describe them. For example, on one of his Facebook pages, Mr. Fishkin mocks women from Virginia, their virginity and their vaginas. He sets forth the stereotypes that exist in his own mind, including that women from Virginia tend to be prudent in the area of sexuality; he then attempts to make a joke about their virginity, and wonders if do or do not have vaginas. He ultimately concludes that they must, in fact, have vaginas.
By taking such cheap shots, Mr. Fishkin amuses himself and some of his Facebook friends, including Susan Margolis, another ethics lawyer who practices in Los Angeles.
Yet another example of Mr. Fishkin’ leanings is an offensive photograph posted on his Facebook page (attached hereto as Exhibit 1). The photo, referred to as “REDNECK is clearly intended to make fun of “REDNECKS” as lower-class, beer-drinking idiots.
The photo is demeaning, and is clearly based on Mr. Fishkin’ stereotype of a group.
Not surprisingly, we were not able to locate any photos or caricatures that mock Jews as a group on Mr. Fishkin’ Facebook page (nor on the page of Susan Margolis).
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Filed under: Clint Parish -- Yolo County Deputy District Attorney, Richard Zitrin, Uncategorized
