SAN FRANCISCO – April 13, 2018 – Gaw | Poe LLP announced today that it obtained a final judgment on behalf of its client, Sunwoo Hwang, in a lawsuit against Proferian, LLC and James Trout.  The dispute arose after Proferian, owned by Mr. Trout, failed to complete the remaining installment payments it owed to Mr. Hwang following his sale of his membership interests in the popular San Francisco nightclub Love + Propaganda to Proferian.  Mr. Hwang subsequently brought a lawsuit against Proferian and Mr. Trout alleging breach of contract and alter ego liability.

Following a year of litigation and a devastating deposition of Mr. Trout, both defendants agreed to a stipulated settlement and order where they would pay $75,729.45 to Mr. Hwang – or the entire amount owed to him including contractually-mandated interest.  Defendants also agreed to pay any attorney’s fees awarded to Mr. Hwang.  The court subsequently awarded $32,518.02 in attorney’s fees and costs to Mr. Hwang, or the entire out-of-pocket amounts spent by him in this lawsuit.  While Defendants paid off the $75,729.45 settlement, they failed to timely pay the attorney’s fees and so Mr. Hwang successfully moved to have this attorney’s fees order reduced to a Final Judgment, along with getting additional attorney’s fees and additional interest, for a total award .  Both Proferian and Mr. Trout were found jointly and severally liable for these amounts.

“It isn’t often that a defendant agrees to settle by paying 100% of what he owes plus all of the other side’s attorney’s fees, especially given that it is very difficult to prove an alter ego claim,” said Gaw | Poe LLP partner Randolph Gaw. “But thanks to our efforts in this case, refusing to do would have only forestalled the inevitable.”

The civil lawsuit is captioned Sunwoo Hwang v. Proferian, LLC and James Trout, No. CGC-16-555511 and was filed in San Francisco Superior Court.  Mr. Hwang is represented by Gaw | Poe LLP attorneys Randolph Gaw and Samuel Song.