Trial between brokers is halted

Rare ruling ends case in favor of defendant Coldwell Banker

In a rare move, a judge halted a court battle between Orange County’s top two real estate brokerages, issuing a “directed verdict” in favor of the defendant.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Sheila Recio found that plaintiff First Team Real Estate failed to provide enough evidence during the trial to merit giving the case to the jury.

The Feb. 15 ruling was a humiliating finale to First Team’s sixyear legal battle over massive defections to rival Coldwell Banker from September 2015 to June 2017.

In its lawsuit, First Team accused Coldwell Banker of staging a clandestine campaign to poach about 80 agents and managers, who took with them thumb drives containing “gigabytes” of trade secrets. First Team led the county in home sales when the defections occurred but slipped to No. 2 two behind Coldwell Banker by 2023.

But on the 12th day of First Team’s trial, Recio ordered plaintiffs’ case closed before they presented all their witnesses because their attorneys went over their alotted time, according to court minutes. She then made the uncommon finding that its attorneys failed to present enough evidence to merit jury deliberations.

The ruling dismissed “all claims as to Coldwell Banker Realty and three highly regarded managers,” a Coldwell Banker spokesperson said in a statement.

First Team’s lead attorney issued a statement of his own, disagreeing with Recio’s ruling and vowing to appeal.

“First Team believes that the court should have provided an opportunity for the jury to hear testimony from all of First Team’s available witnesses and consider all of the relevant evidence, and then allow the jury to deliberate and decide the case,” Dan Fears said in a statement. “First Team fully intends to appeal the court’s ruling and pursue all remedies available to it.”

Trial minutes show Fears and