Brienza v. Tepper

In Brienza v. Tepper (1995) 35 Cal.App.4th 1839, the plaintiff, Brienza, obtained a judgment against the defendant, Tepper, after a jury trial in San Diego. Brienza's lawyers, who represented him on a contingency fee basis, had a contractual lien on the San Diego judgment. (Brienza, supra, 35 Cal.App.4th at pp. 1841-1842.) Subsequently, in an unrelated action in Colorado, First Interstate Bank obtained a judgment against a Colorado general partnership in which Brienza was a general partner. Tepper, who was neither a party to the Colorado action nor involved in that action in any way, purchased the Colorado judgment from First Interstate Bank and sought to offset the Colorado judgment against the San Diego judgment. Brienza argued that his attorney's contractual lien should be given priority and that Tepper's motion should be granted only as to the remaining balance of the judgment. (Id. at pp. 1842-1843.) After reaffirming the principle that "the offset of judgment against judgment is a matter of right absent the existence of facts establishing competing equities or an equitable defense precluding the offset" (Brienza, supra, 35 Cal.App.4th at p. 1848), the court in Brienza concluded that sufficient equitable grounds existed to accord the attorney's contractual lien priority over Tepper's right of offset (ibid.) These grounds included the fact that granting priority to the attorney's lien would not totally defeat the equitable offset. Even after according priority to the attorney's lien, Tepper would still be able to assert an offset to a substantial portion of Brienza's judgment against him. (Ibid.) Tepper had also acquired the assignment of the Colorado judgment at a considerable discount because Brienza was insolvent. The court in Brienza therefore did not accord the Colorado judgment "the same weight in equity as a true equitable offset between the parties where judgment is obtained by filing suit, expending time and incurring fees and costs." (Ibid.)