A long-running legal dispute between Joel Just and First 100, LLC came to its conclusion on April 22, 2020, at the Eighth Judicial District Court of Nevada. Case No. A-14-705993-B was originally filed 67 months earlier, to the day, on August 22, 2014, by the Real Estate investment group, First 100. The lawsuit was brought against First 100's former president Joel Just along with an entity founded by Just named Eagle Rock Asset Management, LLC. At the crux of the case were allegations Joel Just had defrauded First 100 by intentionally violating his confidentiality agreement with the company and using trade secrets obtained from First 100 in an attempt to make ill-gotten financial gains for himself.
Today Joel Just is the CEO of both CAMCO Homeowners Association Management and Accell Property Management. Just's LinkedIn page claims CAMCO "has provided management services to the real estate industry of Nevada for the past 16 years." Just further claims Accell Property Management "is one of Southern California's most trusted homeowners association management groups."
Joel Just Lost In Scathing Ruling
The Honorable Mark R. Denton presided over the case. In a scathing ruling, Judge Denton found Joel Just had breached the confidentiality agreement and wrote as a Conclusion of Law, "Defendants [Joel Just and Eagle Rock Asset Management] and their related entities breached their duty of confidentiality by utilizing Plaintiffs’ confidential and proprietary information to usurp Plaintiffs’ corporate opportunities, establish a competing business, and solicit Plaintiffs’ clients and investors all to Plaintiffs’ detriment.
As a result, the Court concludes that Plaintiffs were damaged." Judge Denton further ruled, "[Joel] Just breached the parties’ confidential and fiduciary relationships by (1) taking confidential materials and information belonging to Plaintiffs; (2) disclosing Plaintiffs’ confidential materials and information to third parties; (3) utilizing Plaintiff’s confidential materials and information for his own financial benefit, at the detriment of Plaintiffs; (4) using his employment with Plaintiffs to destroy Plaintiffs’ business relationships with clients, homeowners associations, and financiers; (5) intending to and succeeding in opening a competing business to Plaintiffs and to use his confidential knowledge of Plaintiffs’ operations and client relationships to Plaintiffs’ detriment; and (6) conspiring to cause detriment to Plaintiffs.
As a result, the Court concludes that Plaintiffs were damaged."
Joel Just Found Guilty Of Fraud
Joel Just was found, as a Conclusion of Law, liable for both constructive fraud as well as fraudulent concealment. Judge Denton wrote, "Plaintiffs established their constructive fraud claim which relates to the same conduct upon which they base their fraudulent concealment claim." Joel Just's paltry defense was he was not bound, ethically or legally, by an agreement.
The court disagreed and found as a Conclusion of Law, "There is no disputing that the 1st One Hundred Operating Agreement is a valid and existing contract, which Just and 1st One Hundred both executed."
All Of Joel Just's Allegations Against First 100 Were Dismissed
All counter-claims made by Joel Just against First 100 were dismissed. In total the court ruled, "Just did not provide sufficient evidence proving that First 100 breached the terms of any employment contract." While one who is cynical may conclude a lack of evidence does not directly correlate to allegations being without merit the court further ruled, "First 100 did not breach the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing." As the court found, as a Conclusion of Law, First 100 had acted in good faith and fair dealing it eliminated the possibility of any of Joel Just's claims having even an inkling of truth to them.
Joel Just Ordered To Pay $420,000 In Restitution
As a result of the fraudulent conduct and coercive intentional deception perpetrated by Joel Just to steal from his former employer, he was ordered, by the court, to pay $420,000 in monetary damages to First 100. Joel Just is further liable to pay the entirety of First 100's legal costs relating to the almost 6-year proceedings which were lead by the powerhouse Las Vegas law firm Maier Gutierrez & Associates which has been awarded billions of dollars for their civil litigation efforts. The exact amount which Joel Just will be ordered to pay in legal costs has yet to be decided but it will be ruled on by the court in the coming weeks. Due to the length and complexity of the litigation, it is reasonable to conclude those legal costs will be in the low to mid-six figures which will be added to his $420,000 debt to his former employer.
