COSTA MESA, Calif., March 9, 2011 – Following nearly five years of litigation and a four-week bench trial, partner Stephen Ellis and senior associate Gerard Mooney of Rutan & Tucker, LLP, California’s largest full-service law firm based in Orange County, achieved a significant victory in the Orange County Superior Court for client Paul Esslinger.
In the case, the law of easements and real property transfers served as the framework for a family dispute that involved the Ruby’s Diner property on Pacific Coast Highway in South Laguna Beach and the adjacent Laguna Terrace Park mobile home complex. The land under Ruby’s Diner is owned by the Esslinger trust, of which Paul Esslinger is a trustee, and is leased to Ruby’s Diner.
The mobile home park, which is controlled by Paul’s son Stephen, contended that Ruby’s – with Paul’s permission – was using an easement over the mobile home property to provide customer access to the restaurant in a manner that Stephen argued overburdened the easement and created an unsafe condition. Stephen sought to either completely extinguish the easement, or drastically restrict its use by Ruby’s. The court rejected all of the son’s contentions, granted judgment in favor of Paul, and awarded Paul his costs. Additionally, Rutan & Tucker attorneys Tim Spivey, Milford Dahl, David Hochner and Duke Wahlquist assisted in the victory.
“We are very pleased with the great result achieved by Rutan & Tucker attorneys in this complicated and contentious matter,” said Mark B. Frazier, head of the firm’s Trial Section.
About Rutan & Tucker LLP
Rutan & Tucker is California’s largest full-service law firm headquartered in Orange County, California with offices in Costa Mesa and Palo Alto. Primary practice areas include corporate and securities law, business and real estate litigation, labor and employment law, intellectual property, real estate, government and regulatory law, land use law, bankruptcy, condemnation and property valuation, environmental law, and taxation and estate planning. Detailed information about the firm is available at www.rutan.com.
