Sample Victories

Lanza & Smith successfully defended a $6.5 million lawsuit, on behalf of 3 defendants, pursuant to a unanimous jury trial verdict in federal court. The lawsuit was premised upon federal RICO (Racketeer Influenced & Corrupt Organizations Act) and related business torts.

Lanza & Smith successfully defeated a federal lawsuit filed by the largest importer of Chinese garlic against Lanza & Smith's clients: several garlic farmers in the US. The RICO lawsuit was filed by a garlic importer called Harmoni Spice International in federal court in Los Angeles.

Due to Lanza & Smith's efforts, the case was dismissed as to 7 defendants by Judge Beverly O'Connell on a motion to dismiss (later reversed in part on appeal in the Ninth Circuit). Upon return to the trial court in 2020, after appeal, the case was dismissed in its entirety due in part to Lanza & Smith's work.

Lanza & Smith negotiated a $700,000 settlement award for a class of 275 victims of accounting fraud scheme by acquiring proceeds seized by federal prosecutors in resolution of 4 separate lawsuits (federal and state).

Lanza & Smith defeated the government's efforts to condemn a client's land through an eminent domain lawsuit, including an award for legal fees & costs, pursuant to summary bench trial filings and notice of abandonment, thereby preserving a 77 acre family farm valued at roughly $2.5 million.

Lanza & Smith obtained a $1.5 million jury trial verdict on behalf of its client, plus award for recovery of attorney fees and legal costs, which ultimately resulted in a $1.74 million judgment. It was the second largest federal trial verdict in all of Orange County in 2006, and has been published in multiple jury verdict sheets.

In recent years, Lanza & Smith obtained a $1.5 million settlement recovery for its clients in resolution of civil litigation under a confidential settlement.

Lanza & Smith obtained a $1.35 million settlement recovery for its client, in recent years, in resolution of a business litigation dispute in federal court in the Central District of California, Southern Division (Santa Ana), under a confidential settlement.