News & Updates || Parish & Small, PLC - Civil Trials and Appeals - Stockton, California || Sacramento, California

William H. Parish again recognized as a "Top Attorney" in Northern California. Mr. Parish has been selected again as a Northern California Super Lawyer. The 2011 list of top attorneys in Northern California is published in San Francisco Magazine and Super Lawyers Magazine. An attorney's selection is by invitation only based on peer review and professional achievement.

Erin Guy Castillo was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the Mary Graham Children's Foundation. The Mary Graham Children's Foundation is a non-profit organization that exists to support programs and activities for children housed in the San Joaquin County shelter, as well as, for trade school and college scholarships for San Joaquin County foster children.

Parish & Small wins summary judgment in contract dispute. Parish & Small was retained by Frontier Community Builders to defend the company in a lawsuit seeking to rescind a real estate development contract. Parish & Small obtained a summary judgment, dismissing the case without trial. William H. Parish and Erin Guy Castillo represented Frontier Community Builders in the case.

Confidential arbitration protects client's right to $2,550,000 payment. In a confidential arbitration to establish the rights and obligations of members of a limited liability company, Parish & Small's client won every issue presented and confirmed the client's entitlement to payment of $2,550,000. William H. Parish acted as trial counsel.

Parish & Small recovers $1,575,000 in confidential settlement. In a confidential settlement of an inter-bank contractual dispute, Parish & Small's client recovered $1,575,000.

Parish & Small wins landmark appeal. William H. Parish acted as appellate counsel in Ahcom, Ltd. v. Smeding, 623 F.3d 1248 (9th Cir. 2010); the decision overrules several decades of decisions of the Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel that held that when a California corporation filed for bankruptcy protection, only the bankruptcy trustee had standing to pursue a "generalized claim for alter-ego liability." The decision prevents shareholders of bankrupt corporations from using the bankruptcy laws to bar alter-ego claims asserted by corporate creditors.

Parish & Small recovers millions for California public entities in antitrust class action. William H. Parish acted as lead counsel for California public entities in a class action asserting price-fixing claims on behalf of indirect purchasers of hydrogen peroxide. The case settled and millions have been distributed to California public entities.

Erin Guy Castillo has joined Parish & Small as an associate. Ms. Castillo attended law school at the University of San Francisco. Ms. Castillo has been lead trial counsel in several jury trials and will continue her practice in civil trials and appeals.

Kyle A. Hampton has joined Parish & Small as an associate. Mr. Hampton graduated from University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law and Brigham Young University.

Parish & Small retained as trial counsel in securities case. Current and former NFL players including five quarterbacks filed a lawsuit today against UBS Securities and former executives of Pay By Touch alleging fraud and negligent misrepresentation.

According to the complaint filed, “UBS Securities touted the Company (Pay By Touch) to investors as providing secure, convenient electronic transaction solutions for businesses and consumers through biometric authentication services and payment processing services.” Investors were told that its new unique payment system would reduce fraud, reduce payment transaction times, strengthen customer loyalty programs, and increase sales volume.

To fund the Company's enormous capital requirements, UBS raised money for Pay By Touch through private offerings from prominent hedge funds, venture capitalists, and private investors. At least $300 million was invested in Pay By Touch during its short history. UBS received millions of dollars in placement fees.

“Defendants also falsely represented that they had disclosed all material risks to investors, and at the same time, UBS stated that they had not investigated the truth of their misrepresentations. The intent of the scheme was to induce Plaintiffs to rely on the misrepresentations and omissions and to invest in Pay By Touch,” the complaint alleges.

The suit alleges that the founder of Pay By Touch, John Rogers, had a string of run-ins with the law in his past. Rogers' legal troubles included criminal misconduct, tax liens and civil judgements. Rogers was arrested for domestic assault and also had restraining orders on him. Rogers spent time in jail.

The suit says the former executives of Pay By Touch and UBS Securities also tried to withhold from investors, the findings of a confidential Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) report. The FDIC investigated the payment processing facility of Pay By Touch and concluded that its management had allowed serious problems to persist. Yet, despite knowing about these findings, the former executives of Pay By Touch and UBS Securities continued to hide the investigation from investors and instead suggested that no investigation had ever occurred. “Incredibly, Defendants told investors that they could be subject to investigation by a regulatory body regarding its payment processing facility, but decided not to reveal that they had been investigated or been told that they might not be able to process payments with federally-insured institutions.”

Parish & Small retained as trial counsel for the City of Stockton in major financial litigation. The City of Stockton has filed two lawsuits arising from the municipal derivatives market. The City issued the following press release:

(Stockton, CA) – City Attorney Ren Nosky announced today that the City of Stockton has filed two lawsuits to stop bond insurers and financial institutions from siphoning millions of taxpayer dollars. Similar lawsuits were filed by the City of Los Angeles.

In the First Complaint, the CITY OF STOCKTON V. AMBAC FINANCIAL GROUP INC., et al., Stockton alleges that when it issued bonds to finance public works, it had to purchase unnecessary insurance from bond insurance companies under a discriminatory credit rating system that charged Stockton and other public entities exorbitant premiums. As alleged in the complaint, “the situation, however, reached disaster levels when those same bond insurance companies, who took hundreds of millions of dollars in premiums from public entities, then insured hundreds of billions of dollars of subprime loans. The insurer Defendants never disclosed the extent of their exposure to the subprime market but rather represented to Stockton and other California public entities that the bond insurance they were selling would improve [Stockton’s] credit rating and lower the interest rates that [Stockton] would have to pay.” With the recent downgrading of their own credit ratings, the insurance companies are looking to public entities to make up the losses in the form of increased premiums and other costs.

The Second Complaint, CITY OF STOCKTON V. BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., et al., arises from the fact that when Stockton raises money by issuing bonds, it has been wrongly treated by the underwriters. The suit contends that the financial institutions that provide these investments conspired to allocate the market amongst them by rigging the bidding process used by Stockton and other public entities that are required to obtain the most competitive rates for their investments. These financial institutions have been under investigation by the United States Department of Justice and according to the complaint, “In February of 2007, Bank of America announced it had been accepted into the [DOJ] Antitrust Division’s Corporate Leniency Program in order to avoid criminal liability for its involvement in the conspiracy to manipulate the Municipal Derivative Market.” As a part of the DOJ Program, BOA will be granted immunity to disclose the scheme that has harmed investments by Stockton and California public entities in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

To prosecute these cases, the City of Stockton engaged two law firms - the Stockton firm of Parish & Small - and Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy with offices in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Washington, and New York. Stockton attorney William H. Parish said, “We share a common purpose with the City Council and the City Attorney and that is to recover every cent taken from the taxpayers of this community.”

William H. Parish has become a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, one of the premier legal associations in America.

The induction ceremony at which William H. Parish became a Fellow took place recently before an audience of approximately 700 persons during the recent 2008 Spring Meeting of the College in Tucson, Arizona.

Founded in 1950, the College is composed of the best of the trial bar from the United States and Canada. Fellowship in the College is extended by invitation only and only after careful investigation, to those experienced trial lawyers who have mastered the art of advocacy and whose professional careers have been marked by the highest standards of ethical conduct, professionalism, civility and collegiality. Lawyers must have a minimum of fifteen years trial experience before they can be considered for Fellowship.

Membership in the College cannot exceed one per cent of the total lawyer population of any state or province. There are currently approximately 5,675 members in the United States and Canada, including active Fellows, Emeritus Fellows, Judicial Fellows (those who ascended to the bench after their induction) and Honorary Fellows.

The College strives to improve and elevate the standards of trial practice, the administration of justice and the ethics of the trial profession. Qualified lawyers are called to Fellowship in the College from all branches of trial practice. They are carefully selected from among those who customarily represent plaintiffs in civil cases and those who customarily represent defendants, those who prosecute persons accused of crime and those who defend them. The College is thus able to speak with a balanced voice on important issues affecting the legal profession and the administration of justice.

William H. Parish is a founder of the firm of Parish & Small and has been practicing in Stockton since 1980. The newly inducted Fellow is an alumnus of University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law.

PARISH & SMALL RECOVERS NEARLY 6 MILLION DOLLARS FOR LINDEN, CALIFORNIA WALNUT GROWER. William H. Parish represented Brittalia Ventures, a Linden California walnut grower in a three week jury trial to recover damages arising from crown gall infection. The jury awarded nearly 4.5 million dollars in the first case in California to establish that a commercial nursery delivered root stock infected with this devastating disease. Three years later, the California Court of Appeal affirmed the jury’s verdict and Brittalia Ventures was paid the original award plus interest, totaling nearly 6 million dollars. The Court of Appeal’s decision may be found at Brittalia Ventures v. Stuke Nursery, Inc., 153 Cal. App. 4th 17 (2007)

WILLIAM H. PARISH ADMITTED TO AMERICAN BOARD OF TRIAL ADVOCATES. The American Board of Trial Advocates is an invitation only organization of trial lawyers who have demonstrated excellence in the presentation of civil jury trials and who adhere to the highest standards of professional conduct. The American Board of Trial Advocates is dedicated to preserving our right to trial by jury and to elevate the standards of integrity, honor and courtesy in the legal profession.

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