Complaints against restaurant owners dismissed by law firm

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) A law firm accused of filing fraudulent court actions to get settlements has abandoned consumer lawsuits against nearly 3,000 defendants after a judge deemed the firm unfit to pursue some of the litigation.

The Trevor Law Group, which is facing disciplinary proceedings before the State Bar of California as well as a lawsuit filed by the state attorney general, informed more than 1,000 restaurant owners Tuesday that it was dismissing unfair competition complaints against them.

The announcement follows a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge's decision last month to dismiss unfair competition suits against roughly 1,600 auto repair businesses in the county.

The suits alleged mainly minor violations of the state business code, such as forgetting to give a customer a receipt.

Authorities contend they were directed at small businesses such as restaurants, nail salons and bakeries, mostly owned by non-English speaking immigrants. The lawyers allegedly tried to persuade the defendants to avoid court and settle for $6,000 to $26,000.

Trevor Law Group has announced that it will appeal the decision, and similar cases it has filed against roughly 500 auto repair shops in Orange County remain active.

The State Bar Court is scheduled to consider temporarily blocking the firm and its lawyers from practicing law on April 17. State Bar officials have said they will ask the state Supreme Court to disbar the lawyers, but those proceedings will take place over an extended period of time.

In February, Attorney General Bill Lockyer filed a lawsuit against the firm alleging that the lawyers themselves violated the Unfair Competition Law when they filed suit against the garages and restaurants.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)