Sheldon Appel Co. v. Albert & Oliker
Supreme Court of California
765 P.2d 498 (1989)
Relevant factsFree
Law firm A&O (defendant) recorded a lis pendens and pursued a lien claim on behalf of clients against a building purchaser, Sheldon Appel (plaintiff), which was ultimately unsuccessful; Sheldon Appel later won a separate breach-of-contract judgment and cross-claimed for malicious prosecution based on the earlier lien claim, and the trial court submitted the probable-cause question to the jury, which awarded over $1 million in damages.
IssueFree
Whether, to establish a cause of action for malicious prosecution, a plaintiff must show that a case was: (1) filed by the defendant and eventually terminated in the plaintiff's favor, (2) filed without objective probable cause, and (3) initiated with malice.