SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - Despite a switch in judges, the federal court in San Francisco won't interfere with state court proceedings in which a personal injury lawyer says court officials have improperly aligned with an insurance company he sued.
Lawyer James Ison and The Ison Law Firm sued defendants like the California Superior Court, the law firm Kern Segal & Murray and California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye in federal court in an attempt to block what was happening in state court - a dispute over what Ison said was a "sham mediation" intended to favor Mercury Insurance.
Judge Morrison England said the issues raised in the federal case brought by Ison could be sorted out in the first state court proceeding and tossed the federal case.
But in May, England recused himself from further proceedings, as a motion for reconsideration from Ison was pending. Judge England said he was handling another case in which Ison was plaintiff's counsel and "in the interest of avoiding potential conflicts or issues," had the case reassigned to John Mendez.
Mendez cancelled oral arguments on the motion for reconsideration, then on Aug. 21 rejected Ison's request to vacate England's orders because England had not recused himself before dismissing the case.
Judge Mendez said Ison didn't establish reconsideration of the dismissal order was warranted, refused to grant him leave to amend and dismissed claims against the original mediator.
"Because the state court already ruled on Plaintiffs' fraud claim and because the facts are largely duplicative, Plaintiffs' fraud claim is 'inextricably intertwined' with the state court judgment below," Mendez wrote.
Ison had agreed to voluntary mediation in exchange for dismissing a case against Mercury Insurance, his suit says. Mercury paid its attorneys at Kern Segal and mediator Stuart Diamond "to conduct a sham mediation that had Diamond going back and forth between Ison and an empty room for four hours while telling Ison that the Mercury Insurance claims adjuster and Kern Segal attorney (Bryana McGuirk) were in the 'conference room down the hall' when in fact they were not there," the suit says.
Ison refused to dismiss the case and asked for proof the adjuster and McGuirk were in attendance. He filed suit against Mercury, Kern Segal and Diamond in San Francisco Superior Court.
Defendants pursued an anti-SLAPP defense, which protects defendants who engage in protected litigation activity. Judge Ethan Schulman, who had been appointed by the California Supreme Court to hear the state court case, ruled for the defendants, despite reaching opposite rulings in similar cases, Ison claimed.
When Ison moved for reconsideration, he claimed Schulman "impugned the integrity of the court" and claimed Mercury had him "in its pocket." He called Schulman "drunk with power."
More statements challenged Schulman's objectivity, and the judge ultimately found Ison in contempt, fined him $5,000 and forwarded his judgment to the California State Bar. He also awarded $80,000 in lawyer fees to Mercury.
Judge England found in October 2022 his federal court should abstain from interfering with the state court proceedings, a decision now backed by the new judge - despite England's later recusal.