The Osoyoos Indian Band Development Limited Partnership (OIBDLP) is suing a lawyer after an investment in a tourism attraction at the San Diego Zoo went sideways.
OIBDLP says it asked Jean Yuen, a lawyer at Boughton Law Corporation, for advice in February 2009. The development company wanted to invest $750,000 in a flightline at the San Diego Zoo. The flightline attraction involved paying customers riding in a harness along an elevated cable to observe animals in the zoo.
Greenheart Conservation Company, incorporated in B.C., was the contractor for the project. In February 2009, Greenheart had already begun construction on the flightline, according to OIBDLP.
Greenheart made a proposal to OIBDLP in which OIBDLP would invest $750,000 in the project and would receive one-sixth of the net revenues of the attraction.
According to the claim, the flightline began operating in 2009. But in June 2010, the Zoological Society of San Diego, the entity that operates the San Diego Zoo, terminated the flightline development agreement with Greenheart. The Zoological Society cited various acts of default, including:
- Greenheart had failed to pay all its subcontractors;
- portions of the construction project remained unfinished; and
- Greenheart had failed to do ongoing maintenance or complete the project at its own cost.
The claim alleges that OIBDLP initiated litigation in California but was unable to recover its one-sixth of the revenues because the Zoological Society successfully mounted a defense that:
- OIBDLP was not entitled to any shares of revenues because OIBDLP's rights were derived from Greenheart's entitlement to revenues; and
- because Greenheart was not licensed as a contractor in California, the Zoological Society was not obligated to pay for Greenheart's work on the flightline.
OIBDLP negotiated a settlement of US $400,000.
OIBDLP is alleging that Yuen and Boughton "breached the standard of care required of a reasonably competent solicitor" because the contract drawn up between OIBDLP and Greenheart did not take into account particulars of California law.
None of the allegations has been proven in court.
As of press time, no statement of defence had been filed. •
