This month, the Spillane Trial Group was victorious on behalf of clients the Restful Groups and Barry Seidman, convincing San Diego Superior Court Judge Lorna Alksne to grant a motion to set aside an attachment against our clients obtained by Stanley Westreich and his company, Chalant.
Without notice to our clients, Westreich/Chalant applied for and obtained a writ of attachment, which permitted Westreich/Chalant to seize assets prior to trial to secure payment on an anticipated judgment. The attachment was based upon promissory notes signed by the Restful Groups and Seidman. When The Restful Groups and Seidman were served with the attachment orders, we moved to set the attachment aside, showing the following:
- that the signed notes were only temporary, demanded as a condition to contribution of money that Westreich/Seidman had already agreed to invest, and
- that the money reflected in the notes would not be due until the investments of the Restful Groups – cemeteries in Mexico – produced profits with which to repay the investment.
Based upon this showing, Judge Alksne ruled that Westreich/Chalant were not likely to prevail on their claims at trial, and set aside the attachment orders.
“Westreich and Chalant went behind our clients’ backs to obtain writs of attachment, a powerful tool allowing one’s adversary to seize assets prior to trial,” said Jay Spillane, who represents the Restful Groups and Seidman. “We were able to show that Westreich and Seidman had reached a controlling agreement not reflected in the signed notes. The court agreed with us that the notes were not due.”