Overview

• Jurors found that Geragos aided and abetted Avenatti’s wrongful conduct and breached his fiduciary duties while recognizing that Franklin suffered no compensable harm.
• The panel awarded Franklin $100,000 as compensation for Geragos’s role in negotiating the failed extortion effort.
• Evidence showed the attorneys pushed Nike for a $1.5 million settlement for Franklin plus a separate $15 million to $25 million investigation fee.
• Avenatti’s 2018 scheme led to his 30-month prison sentence and federal prosecutors once named Geragos an unindicted co-conspirator.
• The outcome underscores how civil malpractice claims can yield limited damages even when legal misconduct is established.