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Firm Profile

Civil Penalties

The following summaries are of recent published decisions of the California appellate courts, the Ninth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. The summaries are presented without regard to whether Severson & Werson represented a party in the case.

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People v. Ashford University, LLC (2024) 100 Cal.App.5th 485

The trial court awarded $22 million in civil penalties against defendants for having committed UCL and FAL violations for over a decade in promoting their private university primarily to older, poor, minority students, only a quarter of whom graduated.  In calculating civil penalties at $9 per misleading sales call, the trial court erred in including in the penalty calculation calls… Read More

United States SEC v. Murphy, Nos. 21-55178, 21-55180, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 27670 (9th Cir. Oct. 4, 2022)

The two defendants purchased municipal bonds for a third party, Riccardi.  The defendants bought the bonds in their own names, but with Riccardi's money and immediately transferred the bonds to him.  They shared profits on Riccardi's resale of the bonds.  By this means, Riccardi was able to buy more of popular municipal bonds than he otherwise would have been able… Read More