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Befekadu v. Addis Int'l Money Transfer

The trial court failed to apply the correct legal standards when disqualifying the defendant's counsel.

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Addis International Money Transfer, LLC the “LLC”, and a majority of its members collectively, “Addis” sued Tsega Befekadu for conversion and misappropriation of the LLC’s assets and for breach of fiduciary duty. During the first trial of those claims, the trial court disqualified Befekadu’s counsel and declared a mistrial. Befekadu proceeded pro se at the second trial, and the jury awarded Addis compensatory damages for the conversion claim, attorney fees and expenses, and punitive damages. The trial court subsequently entered an order and final judgment based on the jury’s verdict. Befekadu appeals that order and the disqualification order from the first trial. We conclude that the trial court did not apply the correct legal standards when disqualifying counsel for Befekadu and therefore vacate the judgment and remand the case to the trial court for proceedings consistent with this opinion. With respect to Befekadu’s appeal of the final judgment, we conclude that he has abandoned the errors he enumerated with respect to the second trial because he failed to support them with argument or citation of authority.

The LLC was formed in 2006 as a small money transferring company that was principally involved in transferring funds between the United States and Ethiopia. There were originally four members of the LLC — Mesfin Shibeshi, Befekadu, Thomas Teshome, and Woinshet Desta. Shibeshi was the president, Befekadu was the treasurer, Teshome was the secretary, and Desta was a cashier. All of the members had contributed at least $7,000.00 to become a part of the LLC. The LLC conducted business without a written operating agreement.

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