Following a three-week jury trial, Pierce County Superior Court Judge Philip Sorensen entered a judgment of more than $4 million in favor of Smith Alling client William Newcomer.
Mr. Newcomer invested his savings with the developer of Apex Apartments, an apartment complex he built near the Tacoma Mall. Between 2005 and 2009, the developer sought money from investors including Mr. Newcomer that was supposed to go into the project. In 2014, the developer told Mr. Newcomer that his entire savings had been lost.
After hiring Smith Alling, Mr. Newcomer discovered that the developer misrepresented what he was doing with the Apex project and Mr. Newcomer’s investment. Through multiple schemes, the developer used Mr. Newcomer’s investment to benefit himself and one of his other projects, Point Ruston.
After the three week trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Mr. Newcomer on all claims, awarding him over $2.3 million finding the defendant violated the Washington State Securities Act.
Following the jury verdict, Judge Sorensen awarded over $1.5 million in prejudgment interest and $200,000 in attorney’s fees and costs allowed under the Washington State Securities Act, bringing the judgment to over $4 million.
At trial, Mr. Newcomer was represented by attorneys Russell Knight, Morgan Edrington and Douglas Alling.
More information is available in a report by The News Tribune.
Contact:
Smith Alling, P.S.
Russell Knight
1501 Dock Street
Tacoma, WA 98402
(253) 627-1091
rknight@smithalling.com