SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) A lawyer was ordered to pay nearly $1.8 million for filing unjustified lawsuits against small businesses, then seeking quick cash settlements before trial, the state attorney general said Wednesday.
Attorney Harpreet Brar was also ordered by a Superior Court judge to repay 10 nail salons and one video store a total of $11,200.
In a lawsuit filed in July 2003, Attorney General Bill Lockyer accused Brar and his law firm of filing ``nuisance lawsuits'' against hundreds of small businesses in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties solely to obtain settlements.
Lockyer said Brar would accuse the businesses of technical, sometimes nonexistent, violations of the state's unfair business practice law and often almost immediately offer to settle for $1,000.
Details here from CBS 2 - New York News.