Associate Attorney Paul Kurtzhall Obtains a Complete Victory without a Trial

Paul J. Kurtzhall joined The Ryan Firm in February of 2024 and went straight to doing what The Ryan Firm does best, namely, winning early and often.  Mr. Kurtzhall’s most recent victory was both complete and early.  Our lender client’s borrower claimed that he did not receive a significant amount of loan proceeds and sued our client in Alameda Superior Court, Oakland Courthouse shortly after defaulting on the loan.  The borrower immediately brought an ex parte application for a temporary restraining order to stop our client’s foreclosure sale, based on his alleged failure to receive loan proceeds.

At the ex parte hearing, the court believed the borrower’s claim that he did not receive the loan proceeds - over our client’s corporate records and written testimony demonstrating that the proceeds were distributed to the borrower.  Attorney Kurtzhall immediately issued a subpoena to the borrower’s bank which established that the borrower received those particular loan proceeds through a trust, for which the borrower was the trustee.  With that information in hand, Mr. Kurtzhall drafted and filed a motion to dissolve the injunction based on the false testimony of the buyer.  And in addition to the bank records, Mr. Kurtzhall exploited the borrower’s other contradictory statements made in the borrower’s former bankruptcy and other failed litigations.

After the court granted Attorney Kurtzhall’s motion, the borrower immediately requested a full payoff of the loan in question, satisfied the loan (including all attorney’s fees and costs), dismissed the case, released all of his claims against our client.  Mr. Kutzhall’s aggressive advocacy ultimately saved our client years of litigation and untold fees and costs.

In his relatively short time at the firm, Attorney Kurtzhall has also shown himself to be a key member of The Ryan Firm’s appellate practice.  Mr. Kurtzhall recently argued before the Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District in a unique matter concerning the enforceability of settlement agreements and Code of Civil Procedure section 664.6.

If you have any assets in your loan portfolio that could use our assistance, please do not hesitate to reach out!