Lawyer Personally Responsible For Law Corporation ’s Debt.

A law corporation obtained a business line of credit from a bank in 1997. The law corporation defaulted on the loan in 2008. The bank brought an action against the law corporation and obtained a judgment against the law corporation. The bank later asked the trial court to add the lawyer as a judgment debtor, arguing the lawyer had drained the assets of the law corporation before dissolving it in June 2009, although continuing to practice as a trial lawyer. A declaration in the bank’s motion to add the lawyer as a judgment debtor stated that the lawyer and his wife could not explain 200 checks identified as “loan repayments” from the law corporation to themselves. The trial court found there was substantial evidence of the lawyer’s liability as an alter ego of the law corporation, and exercised its jurisdiction under Code of Civil Procedure section 187, to add the lawyer as a party to the judgment. In affirming, the appellate court stated: “The corporation was a mere shell for [the lawyer’s] affairs. Corporate formalities were completely lacking.  [The lawyer] did not produce corporate minutes . . .” (Wells Fargo Bank National Association v. Steven J. Weinberg  (Cal. App. Fourth Dist., Div. 2; June 18, 2014)227 Cal.App.4th 1, [173 Cal.Rptr.3d 113])