REISER LAW, P.C. MICHAEL J. REISER, ESQ. (SBN 133621) · Colorado in 1986. I have been a practicing...

Case No. 11-cv-01842-GPC-KSC DECLARATION OF MICHAEL REISER IN SUPPORT OF CLASS COUNSEL'S

APPLICATION FOR ATTORNEYS' FEES COSTS AND SERVICE AWARDS

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REISER LAW, P.C. MICHAEL J. REISER, ESQ. (SBN 133621) 1475 N. Broadway, Suite 300 Walnut Creek, California 94596 Telephone: (925) 256-0400 TALISMAN LAW, P.C. DONALD E. CHOMIAK, ESQ. (SBN 225156) 1010 N. Central Avenue Glendale, California 91202-2937 Telephone: (818) 245-1125 THE MEADE FIRM P.C. TYLER R. MEADE, ESQ. (SBN 160838) 1816 Fifth Street Berkeley, CA 94710 Telephone: (510) 843-3670. FOSTVEDT LEGAL GROUP, LLC WENDY C. FOSTVEDT (SBN CO 34294), ADMITTED PRO HAC VICE 100 Elk Run Drive, Suite 129 Basalt, Colorado 81623 Telephone: (970) 319-4648 GIBBS LAW GROUP LLP MICHAEL SCHRAG (SBN 185832) 505 14th Street, Suite 1110 Oakland, CA 94612 Telephone: (510) 530-9700 Attorneys for Plaintiffs DEAN BEAVER, et al.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA DEAN BEAVER AND LAURIE BEAVER, HUSBAND AND WIFE; et al.,

Plaintiffs, v. TARSADIA HOTELS, A CALIFORNIA CORPORATION; et al.,

Defendants.

Case No. 11-cv-01842-GPC-KSC DECLARATION OF MICHAEL REISER IN SUPPORT OF CLASS COUNSEL’S APPLICATION FOR ATTORNEYS’ FEES, COSTS AND SERVICE AWARDS

DATE: September 15, 2017 TIME: 1:30 p.m. DEPT.: Courtroom 2D JUDGE: Hon. Gonzalo P. Curiel

Case 3:11-cv-01842-GPC-KSC Document 287-24 Filed 08/09/17 PageID.13022 of 9

1 Case No. 11-cv-01842-GPC-KSC DECLARATION OF MICHAEL REISER IN SUPPORT OF CLASS COUNSEL'S


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I, Michael Reiser, declare and state as follows: 1. I am an attorney licensed to practice before this Court and am a member in

good standing of the State Bar of California. I am one of the attorneys principally responsible for prosecuting this action on behalf of the plaintiff class against the Tarsadia Defendants. I have worked on this action from its investigation and inception, through discovery, motions to dismiss, summary judgment, class certification and other motions, the interlocutory appeal, and post-appellate proceedings in the trial court that led to the $51,150,000 settlement of this action.

2. I graduated from the University of Colorado School of Law in Boulder, Colorado in 1986. I have been a practicing trial attorney since 1986 in Colorado, and since 1988 in California. From 1988 through 1993, I was an associate with the law firm of Rankin, Sproat, et al., an AV rated law firm located in Oakland, California. From 1994 until 1999, I was a partner at Rankin Sproat. In 1998, I obtained an AV rating, I have maintained ever since. In 1999, I opened the Law Office of Michael J. Reiser in Walnut Creek, California, specializing in complex business and real estate litigation, professional malpractice, insurance litigation and civil rights litigation under §1983. In January 2017, the name of the Law Office of Michael J. Reiser was changed to Reiser Law, p.c. Over the past thirty years, I have handled multiple first-chair jury and bench trials, including, most recently, a two-week jury trial in 2013, a three-week bench trial in 2014, and an eight-week jury trial 2015. I have also handled numerous binding arbitrations.

3. I have been engaged in litigation involving the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act (“ILSA”) since September 2009, when I filed lawsuits on behalf of twenty-nine condo-hotel owners, consolidated under the case titled Keefe v. Base Village Owners, LLC, Pitkin County Colorado District Court, Case Number 2009 CV 273. In March 2011, co-counsel and I successfully achieved, on summary judgment, the rescission of approximately $100 million worth of purchase contracts for 60 slope-side condo-hotel unit owners at the Viceroy Hotel in Snowmass, Colorado, and the return of ///




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$15.3 million in deposits, based upon ILSA claims, including those arising under 15 U.S.C. §§ 1703(a)(1)(C) and 1703(d)(1).

4. Since September 2009, I have devoted over 75% of my practice to representing condominium and condo-hotel owners in lawsuits arising out of ILSA, the Unfair Competition Law (“UCL”) and the common law of California, Colorado and New York.

5. In addition to the Keefe case discussed above, I have been either lead or co-lead counsel in the following class action and multi-plaintiff lawsuits:

a. CGJ Investments, LLC, et al. v. Intrawest Napa Development Company, et al. — Napa County Superior Court Case Number 26-47855. Lead counsel in an ILSA and UCL based rescission action seeking deposits retained by defendants pertaining to 7 condominium units at the Westin-Verasa in Napa, California. Status: Confidential settlement reached in 2011.

b. Ham, et al. v. Intrawest Napa Development Company, et al. — Napa County Superior Court Case Number 26-50708. Lead counsel in an ILSA and UCL based rescission action pertaining to 26 closed condominium hotel units at the Westin-Verasa in Napa, California. Status: Confidential settlement reached in 2012.

c. Lakin, et al. v. R.C. Chronicle Building, LP, et al. — San Francisco Superior Court Case Number CGC-11-511958. Lead counsel in an ILSA and UCL based rescission action pertaining to 10 closed condominium units at the Ritz Carlton Residences in San Francisco, California. Status: Confidential settlement reached in 2012.

d. Rundberg, et al. v. Intrawest Napa Development Company, et al. — Napa County Superior Court Case Number 27-56986. A class action filed and litigated by the five firms appointed Class Counsel herein seeking deposits retained by defendants involving approximately 80




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condominium unit purchase and sale agreements at the Westin-Verasa in Napa, California. Status: Settlement class approved and settlement reached in 2014.

e. Bruce L. Smith, et al. v. The Related Companies, LP, et al. — Pitkin County Colorado District Court Case Number 2011 CV168. Co-Lead counsel in an ILSA and common-law based rescission action pertaining to 29 closed condominium units at the Capitol Peak Lodge Condominiums in the Town of Snowmass Village, Colorado. Status: Confidential settlement reached in 2015.

f. Petrick, et al. v. Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation, et al. — San Francisco Superior Court Case Number CGC-15-545987. Co-Lead counsel with Tyler Meade representing owners of approximately 70 deeded fractional-interest units at the San Francisco Ritz Carlton Residence Club in a common law and UCL based rescission action. Status: Discovery stage.

g. Reiser, et al. v. Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation, et al. — United States District Court, Eastern District of California Case Number 16-CV-00237-MCE-CKD. Co-Lead counsel with Tyler Meade representing owners of over 20 deeded fractional-interest units at the Lake Tahoe Ritz Carlton Residence Club in a common law and UCL based rescission action. Status: Discovery stage. Recently consolidated with Bhagat, et al. v. Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation, United States District Court, Eastern District of California, 2:16-CV-00237-MCE-CKD.

h. RCHFU, LLC, et al. v. Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation, et al. — United States District Court, District of Colorado Case Number 16-CV-01301-PAB. Co-Lead counsel with Tyler Meade and Michael Schrag representing owners of over 230 deeded fractional-interest




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units at the Aspen Ritz Carlton Residence Club in a common law based breach of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment action. Status: Discovery stage.

i. Gillespie, et al. v. St. Regis Residence Club New York, Inc. , et al. — United States District Court, Southern District of New York Case Number 16-cv-09390-GHW. Co-Lead counsel with Tyler Meade and Michael Schrag representing 107 deeded fractional-interest units at the St. Regis Residence Club in a breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, rescission and unjust enrichment action. Status: Discovery stage.

j. Ulti-Mate Connectors, Inc., et al. v. American General Life Insurance Company, et al. — United States District Court, Central District of California Case Number 14-cv-1051-JLS-JPR. Co-Lead counsel with Tyler Meade and Michael Schrag representing 3 whole-life policy holders and their employer in a RICO, RICO Conspiracy, Fraud, UCL and common law rescission action arising out of the marketing of an illegal tax-shelter by among others, American General Life Insurance Company. Status: Settlement reached in July 2016.

k. Asokan et al. v American General Life Insurance Co., et al. — United States District Court, Middle District Florida Case Number 15-cv-2048-PGB-KRS. Co-Lead counsel with Tyler Meade, Michael Schrag (and others) representing 6 whole-life policy holders and their employers in a common law Fraud and Breach of Fiduciary Duty action arising out of the marketing of an illegal tax-shelter by among others, American General Life Insurance Company. Status: Trial Set for September 2017.

l. Smith et al. v. American General Life Insurance Co., et al. — United States District Court, Central District of California Case Number 16-




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cv-01893-JLS (JPRx). Co-Lead counsel with Tyler Meade and Michael Schrag representing 9 whole-life policy holders and their employers in a RICO, RICO Conspiracy, Fraud, UCL and common law rescission action arising out of the marketing of an illegal tax-shelter by among others, American General Life Insurance Company. Status: Trial Set for May 2018.

6. I have maintained contemporaneous time records throughout the six years I have worked on this case. I enter my time at or near the time of the work performed. Our law clerks Michael Reiser Jr., Matthew Reiser, Lilia Bulgucheva and summer intern Andrew Smith followed the same practice. All my work has been done on a contingent basis.

7. Before preparing this fee application, I carefully reviewed both my time records for the work I did in this case to eliminate errors or duplicate time entries. I also reviewed the hours of Mr. Michael Reiser Jr., Mr. Matthew Reiser, Ms. Lilia Bulgucheva and Mr. Andrew Smith for the same purpose. During this review, I exercised my billing discretion to eliminate and/or reduce certain time entries.

8. In total, our attorneys, law clerks and paralegals spent 1,786.25 hours working on this case from April 2011 through July 31, 2017. I spent 1,442.75 hours working on the case, including: client development; initial and ongoing factual and legal research and development of the UCL and ILSA theories; extensive document review, including defendants’ electronic discovery and the Hard Rock project file located at the Department of Real Estate Subdivisions Office in Sacramento; sitting as lead attorney for the depositions of Tushar Patel (Tarsadia Principal - Orange County), Gregory Casserly (Tarsadia Principal - Orange County), Bryan Bruce (Playground Executive - Costa Rica), Brent McLean, second session, (Playground Executive - Oregon), Greg Bernhardt, (Greenberg Traurig Lawyer - Los Angeles), Alan Wallace (Defense broker expert - Los Angeles), Catherine Holmes (Defense ILSA registration expert - Los Angeles), and Dinesh Gauba, (Plaintiff - Walnut Creek); locating and retaining Plaintiffs’ damages




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expert; researching and developing a statute of limitations theory; researching and developing the appeal; researching and developing the class certification motions; researching and developing the UCL remedies plan; preparing for and attending both mediations; negotiating the complex terms of the settlement agreement; developing the Distribution Plan and creating the Class member list, including review of property history reports for all units sold at the Hard Rock; working with the Settlement Administrator to disseminate Class Notice; routine updating of class members; and, drafting the preliminary and final approval papers and the fee application. I have billed this time at my current hourly rate of $740.

9. My law clerk Michael Reiser Jr., who graduated from the University of California Hastings College of the Law in 2016, worked 210.65 hours doing document review and processing during the discovery phase of this case. Reiser Law, p.c. has billed Mr. Michael Reiser Jr’s time in this case at the hourly rate of $225.

10. My law clerk Matthew Reiser, who graduated from the University of San Francisco School of Law in 2016 and was admitted to the California bar in 2017, worked 100.3 hours doing document review and processing during the discovery phase of this case. Reiser Law, p.c. has billed Mr. Matthew Reiser’s time in this case at the hourly rate of $225.

11. My law clerk Lilia Bulgucheva who graduated from the John F. Kennedy University School of Law in 2011 and was admitted to the California bar in 2013, worked 20.1 hours doing legal research. Reiser Law, p.c. has billed Ms. Bulgucheva’s time in this case at the hourly rate of $225.

12. Andrew Smith spent 12.45 working on this case doing legal research while he was a summer associate. Mr. Smith graduated from Santa Clara University Law School in 2011 and billed his time at $150 per hour. If requested I can provide the Court with a copy of the detailed time entries.

13. The following chart summarizes Reiser Law, p.c.’s hours and lodestar in this action:




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Hours Rate Lodestar

Michael Reiser (Attorney) 1442.75 $740 $1,067,635 Michael Reiser Jr. (Law Clerk) 210.65 $225 $47,396 Matthew Reiser (Law Clerk) 100.30 $225 $22,568 Lilia Bulgucheva (Law Clerk) 20.10 $225 $4,523 Andrew Smith (Summer Intern) 12.45 $150 $1,868 Total 1786.25

$1,143,988

14. I have gone through the Reiser Law, p.c. bills and categorized our hours as

follows:

Investig. & Research: 204.80 Motions & Pleadings: 226.75 Discovery: 535.75 Strategy & Analysis: 342.60 Court Appearances & Preparation: 117.10 Appeal: 23.50 Settlement & Administration: 330.45 Miscellaneous: 5.30

Subtotals: 1,786.25

15. I and others at Reiser Law, p.c. have continued to work on this case since July 31, 2017 and will do so for at least the next several months. For example, work on the Motion for Final Approval and Application for Attorneys’ Fees between July 31, 2017 and August 9, 2017 is not reflected in our lodestar. Between August 9, 2017 and September 15, 2017, I will work to prepare for the final approval hearing and coordinate with the Settlement Administrator, Garden City Group, to perfect the class address list and track communications from Class members. If the Court approves the settlement, I will continue to work with Garden City Group to administer the distribution of settlement proceeds to class members. Mr. Meade’s declaration contains an estimate of the total number of hours Class Counsel expects to spend between July 31, 2017 and the end of the distribution process.




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16. Reiser Law, p.c. also incurred $40,400 in the litigation expenses listed below, which are included in Class Counsel’s request for reimbursement of expenses:

Express Mail/courier $433 Copying $611 Depo Transcripts $4,559 Depo Travel $6,654 Experts $25,260 Mediation (w/travel) $1,730 Hearings Travel $558 Miscellaneous $594 Total $40,400

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States that the foregoing is true and correct to the best of my knowledge. Executed on August 9, 2017 in Walnut Creek, California.

/s/ Michael Reiser Michael Reiser


REISER LAW, P.C. MICHAEL J. REISER, ESQ. (SBN 133621) · Colorado in 1986. I have been a practicing...

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