Jason E. Goldstein specializes in resolving complex business disputes for a diverse cross-section of clients, which include “private money” lenders/brokers/servicers, insureds, mortgage servicers, banks, credit unions, foreclosure trustees, investors, trade secret owners, individuals which own real property and general contractors.

Jason is a Shareholder at Buchalter who primarily practices out of Buchalter’s Irvine and Los Angeles offices – but his practice is statewide (and sometimes nationwide). Jason is a Co-Chairman of Buchalter’s Title Insurance and Escrow Group, a fellow of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys (“ACMA”), an ACMA Title Insurance Committee member, and former President of the Orange County Bar Association Insurance Law section.

On July 28, 2022, the California Mortgage Association, a pre-eminent organization dedicated to education and the advancement of private money lending, awarded Jason the President’s Award plaque to recognize his exemplary service to the organization.

Jason was also included in the 2024 & 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America for Insurance Law.

Jason has an extensive legal background in state and federal courts (bankruptcy and district) across the country, which includes litigating claims relating to “private money,” title insurance, escrow, real property, mortgage banking, mortgage servicers, workers compensation insurance, commercial general liability insurance and foreclosure trustees. Jason also handles litigation involving misappropriation of trade secrets, wrongful foreclosure, lender liability defense, leases (commercial, residential, and equipment), general contractors, receiverships, and judicial foreclosures. Jason and his team also assist lenders, trustees, and servicers with all aspects of bankruptcy proceedings (chapters 7, 11, and 13).

Jason is a trial lawyer and handles lawsuits from beginning to end. Examples of his experience include:

Jury Trials

• Unanimous jury defense verdict in the United States District Court for the Central District of California in favor of a former employee of a national bank whom was subject to RICO and fraud claims arising from a multi-hundred million dollar investment scheme involving alleged oil pipelines and other fabricated investments (he previously obtained a summary judgment in favor of the bank). There was an article about the scheme in Forbes.
• Jury defense verdict in favor of a Bank in an action filed by disgruntled husband and wife borrowers in the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles. After the jury trial, the jurors stated that while they felt compassion for the borrowers (the wife was emotional on the stand), Jason had convinced them that the Bank had done everything it was required to do under the subject contracts.
• Unanimous jury verdict in favor of the Plaintiff in a usury and wrongful foreclosure action which was tried in the Long Beach Superior Court against an unlicensed lender.
• Unanimous jury verdict in favor of a Bank and against its Guarantors in a breach of guaranty case which was tried in the Orange County Superior Court. The guarantors presented an “unclean hands” defense which was rejected by the jury.
• Directed Verdict obtained in a contentious jury trial of an unlawful detainer action which was tried in the Orange County Superior Court and involved the interplay of the Tenant Protection Act with California common law. Jason represented the owner and the tenant of a $6,000,000.00 property against guests/licensees who refused to leave.
• Obtained a multi-million dollar jury verdict in the Orange County Superior Court, which included punitive damages against the Defendants (father, son and LLC), in favor of a Plaintiff purchaser of interests in a beach lot in San Clemente, with respect to causes of action for fraud, negligent misrepresentation, aiding and abetting fraud and Penal Code Section 496, which related to multiple concealments of material fact which would have put the “kibosh,” on the sale, as one real estate agent testified.

Bench Trials

• Bench trial victory in favor of the plaintiff in a usury action which was tried in the Orange County Superior Court against unlicensed lenders, which also included the successful defense of the elder abuse, conversion, fraud and money had and received causes of action contained in his adversaries’ cross-complaint.
• Bench trial victory in favor of a defendant in a quiet title action brought by a title insurer, in the name of purchasers of real property, pursuant to which the Orange County Superior Court quieted title to the purchased real property subject to the defendant’s abstract of judgment. The Court quieted title based upon the imputation of the actual knowledge of the escrow agent to the plaintiffs – pursuant to the laws of agency – that the seller used a slightly different name than that on the Grant Deed.
• Bench trial victory in favor of Plaintiff in which the Court adjudicated in the partition phase of a multi-phase trial that the subject 4 unique parcels of real property in Laguna Beach would be partitioned “in-kind,” as requested by Plaintiff, and not by sale, as requested by the Defendants.
• Bench trial victory in favor of a Defendant landlord in which the Court agreed with the Firm’s client and adjudicated that the Plaintiff tenant had failed to duly exercise an option to renew a lease for an automobile repair shop and was thus a holdover tenant.
• Bench trial victory in favor of a lender/loan servicer in Santa Monica Superior Court in a case involving California’s Civil Code Section 2924m, also known as “California’s Overbid Statute.”  Commencing in 2021, California’s nonjudicial foreclosure laws relating to single-family/1-4 properties changed such that certain statutorily defined “eligible bidders” (here, an LLC whose managing member’s primary activity was developing or preserving affordable rental housing) could – after a foreclosure sale was cried – “overbid” the winning bidder at the date of the sale.  The Court ruled in favor of the lender/loan servicer based upon the determination that the Plaintiff was not an eligible bidder.

Injunctions

• Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction in favor of a market leader in the business of creating, producing and selling “E-juice/E-liquid” on the open market for use in vaping and against a former employee who had misappropriated trade secret formulas for “E-juice/E-liquid.”
• Temporary Restraining Orders and Preliminary Injunctions in favor a national equipment leasing finance company against former employees who had misappropriated the company’s trade secret information.
• Permanent Injunction in favor of a national loan servicer against former employees who had misappropriated the company’s trade secret information.
• Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction which prohibited a neighboring landowner from interfering with an easement and from further harassing, assaulting and intimidating the Plaintiffs who share a common driveway with the enjoined neighboring landowner.

Motions To Dismiss/Demurrers

• Numerous Orders and Judgments dismissing lawsuits brought against retail, wholesale and correspondent lenders by borrowers based on successful Demurrers (in state court) or Motions to Dismiss (in federal court).

In addition, Jason has obtained near twenty million dollars in indemnity payments for his insured clients from title insurers in connection with litigation settlements. He has also successfully tendered a multitude of title insurance claims which have resulted in the payment of millions of dollars in indemnity payments to his insured clients and/or the insurer paying for a lawyer to defend his clients in litigation matters. When title retained counsel is appointed, Jason frequently monitors the insurer and its title retained counsel to try to prevent the bad faith denial of claims.

Jason is a frequent speaker and author on broker and lender liability, title insurance, escrow and trade secrets. He has spoken at conferences conducted by the California Mortgage Association, the American Association of Private Lenders, the California MBA, the MBA, the California Receivers Forum and the Northern and Southern California Chief Appraisers organization.

Jason’s article, “The Laundry Route Cases and How Not to Get Taken to the Cleaners” is cited as authority in the West’s Civil Code Annotated under the heading of “Misappropriation – Enjoined,” in the Uniform Trade Secrets Act. Civil Code § 3426.2. In addition, Law360 included in its “Expert Analysis” section Jason’s Truth-In-Lending Act article entitled, “The Jesinoski Opinion Vs. The Statute of Limitations.”