APPELLATE COURT AFFIRMS NEARLY $4 MILLION AWARD TO EL ESCORIAL CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION
SANTA BARBARA, CALIF.–The California Court of Appeal affirmed a $3.7 million trial court judgment that found a plastering company and a framing company had performed shoddy workmanship at the El Escorial Villas in Santa Barbara (El Escorial Owners’ Association v. DLC Plastering, Inc., et al. 2d Civil No. B173829, Super. Ct. No. 1003147, Santa Barbara County, September 6, 2007).
Santa Barbara law firm Cappello & Noël, LLP represented the El Escorial Owners’ Association during the original 11-month civil trial that took place in 2003 and the ensuing appellate procedure against DLC Plastering and Alderman Construction. It also represented the homeowners in a previous $10.4 million settlement with other construction contractors who performed substandard work when converting the El Escorial from apartments and hotel units to 261 condominiums in the late 1990s.
The first construction defect lawsuits were filed in 2000. “It’s taken over seven years, but we can finally see a closure to this long process,” says A. Barry Cappello, managing partner of Cappello & Noël. “El Escorial is nearing completion of a total renovation and upgrade paid for by money collected from the previous settlements.”
DLC Plastering and Alderman Construction must pay interest on the $3.7 million judgment. The appellate court decision can be appealed to the California Supreme Court. Parties have until mid-October to file an appeal.
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