Judge Denies Woodsford’s Request for Temporary Restraining Order in Dispute with Hosie Rice
As recently as last week, LFJ reported on the ongoing dispute between Woodsford and Hosie Rice over unpaid fees from a litigation funding deal, as the funder sought to block the transfer of proceeds from the sale of a house owned by Hosie Rice’s founders. An article from Reuters provides an update on the case of Frome Wye v. Hosie Rice, et al. in the Northern District of California, as U.S. District Judge Edward Chen ruled against Woodsford subsidiary Frome Wye’s request for an injunction to stop Hosie Rice disbursing $1.8 million from the sale of the property. In his denial of the request for a temporary restraining order, Judge Chen stated that Woodsford’s “purely financial” injury should be solved with a damages award. The ruling concluded that Woodsford “has not shown a likelihood of irreparable injury”, and that the funder “has not submitted any evidence that any or all three Defendants who entered into the funding agreement are insolvent or that they would not be able to pay the amount owed.” Spencer Hosie and Diane Rice, the law firm’s founders, expressed satisfaction with the judge’s ruling and said that they hoped the ruling “puts an end to this long Woodsford saga." However, Woodsford’s Steven Friel noted that the funder would “pursue the debt until full satisfaction”, noting that the case had reinforced the fact that Hosie Rice still owes Woodsford the $1.8 million awarded by the arbitration panel.