Opinion
No. A136626.
11-20-2014
INITIATIVE LEGAL GROUP, APC, Objector and Appellant. DAVID MARK MAXON, Movant and Respondent INITIATIVE LEGAL GROUP, APC, Objector and Appellant. DAWN LOFTON et al., Plaintiffs, v. WELLS FARGO HOME MORTGAGE, Defendant
[Modification of opinion (230 Cal.App.4th 1050; ___ Cal.Rptr.3d ___), upon denial of rehearing.]
THE COURT. — IT IS ORDERED that the opinion filed herein on October 22, 2014, be modified as follows and the petition for rehearing is DENIED:
1. On page 1, the first three sentences of the first paragraph [230 Cal.App.4th 1054, advance report, 1st par., lines 1-5] are deleted and the following sentences are inserted in their place:This case was brought on behalf of home mortgage consultants working for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage (Wells Fargo) seeking damages for unpaid wages. It is related to class action litigation initiated by attorneys Kevin McInerney and James Clapp (class counsel) in 2005. In 2006 and 2007, appellant Initiative Legal Group, APC (ILG), filed similar putative class actions in different superior courts. Thereafter, additional actions were filed by both class counsel and ILG, culminating in the filing by class counsel of the present action to facilitate the request for approval of a class action settlement.2. On page 2, the first full paragraph, beginning with "In many respects" [230 Cal.App.4th 1054, advance report, 2d par., lines 1-5] is modified to read:In many respects, that did not happen with these cases. The litigation proceeded on different tracks. A class was certified then decertified in the action filed by class counsel and ultimately, the actions filed by ILG were broken up into several different lawsuits asserting identical individual claims on behalf of 600 plaintiffs.3. On page 3, the last full paragraph [230 Cal.App.4th 1055, advance report, 4th par., lines 1-9] is modified to read:In 2005, Attorneys Kevin McInerney and James Clapp (class counsel) initiated class action litigation against Wells Fargo seeking damages for wage
[231 Cal.App.4th 549d]
claims on behalf of thousands of home mortgage consultants who had allegedly been misclassified as exempt employees. In 2006 and 2007, ILG filed putative class actions alleging similar claims on behalf of similar classes. Although a class was initially certified in the 2005 case, that class was decertified in 2010. Once it became clear that the cases would not be proceeding as class actions, ILG filed multiple lawsuits, each with 30 to 90 plaintiffs, on behalf of its 600 clients, including Maxon.4. On page 4, in the first full paragraph, at the end of the sentence ending with "(hereafter the class action or Lofton settlement)" [230 Cal.App.4th 1056, advance report, 1st par., line 4] add as footnote 1 the following footnote, which will require the renumbering of all subsequent footnotes:The terms "class action" or "Lofton settlement" refer collectively to the related wage-claim actions filed by class counsel dating back to 2005.
The petition for rehearing is denied. There is no change in the judgment.