Trevor Law Group

State Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer filed a lawsuit against a Beverly Hills law firm Wednesday alleging that the lawyers used the state's Unfair Competition Law to extort cash settlements from thousands of small businesses under the guise of consumer protection. Lockyer, who described the action as a "delicious irony," filed the suit under the same law that the Trevor Law Group used when suing more than 2,000 auto repair shops and about 1,000 restaurants.

A Beverly Hills law firm accused of using the state's powerful Unfair Competition Law to extort quick settlements from auto repair garages and restaurants has abandoned consumer lawsuits against nearly 3,000 defendants after a judge deemed the firm unfit to pursue some of the litigation.

Proprietors of ethnic restaurants and auto repair shops across the state undoubtedly breathed a sigh of relief when California authorities put the Trevor Law Group out of business.