Recent Articles
Homeowner Associations: Prevailing Party HOA Properly Granted Attorney’s Fees In A Renewed Motion Where The Initial Motion Was Denied Without Prejudice
CCP § 1008 Reconsideration Principles Did Not Govern; $95,182.75 Was The Fees/Costs Award. In Westwood Village Condominium Assn. v. Allen, Case No. A169848 (1st Dist.,…
Appeal Sanctions: 4/1 DCA Levies Sanctions For A Frivolous Appeal Of Three Orders, Based Partially On A1 Hallucinations Being Referenced
$59,236 Payable To Respondent; $15,000 Payable To Appellate Clerk In Howell Management Services, LLC v. Rota, Case No. D086055 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Dec. 15,…
Costs, Landlord/Tenant: Where No Settlement Agreement Was Of Record, And Testimony Was Conflicting On That Issue With Only Conjectural Evidence Offered By Landlords, Lower Court Erred In Denying Routine To Costs To Tenants After Landlords Dismissed The Unlawful Detainer Case Without Prejudice
Absence Of A Settlement Agreement Was Critical, Not To Mention Facts Indicating That Tenants Forced The Dismissal Because Landlords Knew They Might Lose. In Treybig…
Employment, Ethics: $576,000 Attorney’s Fees Award Against Cross-Defendant On FEHA Claim Allowed As An Amendment On The Eve Of Trial Was Affirmed Where The Cross-Complainant Recovered $1.4 Million In Damages
Cross-Complainant Sought $1.25 Million In Fees; Fees Were Appropriate Despite The Delay In Adding The FEHA Cross-Claim. This case is interesting to show how procedural…
Arbitration: Yet Another Employer Arbitration Late Payment Case Remanded To See If There Is A Cognizable Excuse Under Hohenshelt
Facts Are Not Clear Cut To Require A Reversal As A Matter Of Law As In Recent 2/1 DCA Wilson Opinion. We accurately did predict…
Employment, Prevailing Party: Employee Winning $11,594.80 In Labor Code Violations Had $163,440 Fee Award Reversed And Remanded
Reason Was That The Lower Court Applied The CCP § 1032 Prevailing Party Rigid Test, Rather Than A More Pragmatic Approach Which Governed Statutory Violations….
Arbitration: Trial Court, On An Arbitration Award Confirmation Petition, Erroneously Included Arbitration Costs Where Arbitrator Did Not Award Them Before Issuance Of The Arbitration Award
Arbitrator Was The One Who Had To Do So, With The Presumption Being Costs Were Disallowed. Garrett & Tully, P.C. v. Aliso Properties, LLC, Case…
Private Attorney General: Fee Award Denied To CEQA Plaintiffs After Remand Of A Prior Published Opinion Reversing A Fee Denial And Remanding For A Restudy
Plaintiffs Failed To Meet Their Ultimate Burden Of Showing The Litigation Was A Catalyst For What Happened Relating To The WaterFix Project. In an earlier…
Partition: Litigant’s Failure To Appeal Interlocutory Partition Judgment Means That It Could Not Change A 50/50 Split Of Fees/Costs
However, Litigant’s Appeal Of A Subsequent Judgment Where An Incorrect Allocation Was Made Could Be Appealed. The next case bears an important reminder to litigants…
Private Attorney General: Where Plaintiff Student’s Fraud/Negligence Verdicts Vindicated Primarily Her Personal Interests, CCP § 1021.5 Fees Correctly Were Denied
No Evidence That Other Students Were Exposed To Activities Of Which She Complained. In Stallo v. Mt. San Jacinto Community College Dist., Case No. E081215…
Family Law: Ex-Wife, Losing DVRA Proceeding Involving Children Of The Marriage, Will Have A Substantial Attorney’s Fees Order Assessed In Favor Of Ex-Husband
One $42,169.75 Component Of The Fee Award Was Remanded For Restudy, With the Remainder Of The $204,682.97 Award Affirmed, Although It Could Be Offset By…
Discovery, Sanctions: $25,000 In Discovery Sanctions Against Ex-Wife, Based On Ex-Husband’s Success In Not Having To Answer 90% Of Certain Requests, Were Affirmed On Appeal
Various Challenges, Including Fee Substantiation Challenges, Rejected On Appeal. In Malinowski v. Martin, Case No. A167576 (1st Dist., Div. 3 Dec. 4, 2025) (unpublished), the…
Appeal Sanctions: $6,000 In Appeal Sanctions Payable To The Appeals Court Clerk Was The Order For Filing A Frivolous Appeal Based On Directly Contradicting A Different Position Taken Before The Trial Court
Sanctions Denied To Respondent; However, Appellate Court Directed That The Lower Court Award Full Appellate Fees On Remand, As Long As They Are Reasonable. Orange…
Equity, Section 1717: Plaintiff/Cross-Defendant Losing Reformation Cross-Claim, Where A Contractual Fee Shifting Provision Was Involved, Properly Assessed With An Award Of $547,587 In Attorney’s Fees To Two Prevailing Cross-Complainants
Reformation Cross-Claim Was “On The Contract,” Apportionment Was Unnecessary, And Awarding Against Cross-Defendant Only Was No Abuse Of Discretion. Modern civil litigation is an expensive,…
Insurance, Section 998: Insurance Concerns Of Carriers, Although A Consideration, Are Not Ones Which Should Lead A Litigant To Reject A Section 998 Offer Outright
Carriers Can Protect Themselves, With the Offeree Needing To Press A Carrier To Help Accept A Good Faith 998 Offer. Insurance considerations are very important…
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Homeowner Associations: Prevailing Party HOA Properly Granted Attorney’s Fees In A Renewed Motion Where The Initial Motion Was Denied Without Prejudice
CCP § 1008 Reconsideration Principles Did Not Govern; $95,182.75 Was The Fees/Costs Award. In Westwood Village Condominium Assn. v. Allen, Case No. A169848 (1st Dist., Div. 5 Dec. 15, 2025) (unpublished), HOA sued homeowners over alleged CC&R noise, parking, and littering violations, with HOA determining at some point that defendants cured the violations. Based on…
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Appeal Sanctions: 4/1 DCA Levies Sanctions For A Frivolous Appeal Of Three Orders, Based Partially On A1 Hallucinations Being Referenced
$59,236 Payable To Respondent; $15,000 Payable To Appellate Clerk In Howell Management Services, LLC v. Rota, Case No. D086055 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Dec. 15, 2025) (unpublished), the 4/1 DCA recently found appellant filed a frivolous appeal involving three orders, with AI hallucinations also found in the appellant’s appellate briefing (an unreasonable CRC violation). The…
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Costs, Landlord/Tenant: Where No Settlement Agreement Was Of Record, And Testimony Was Conflicting On That Issue With Only Conjectural Evidence Offered By Landlords, Lower Court Erred In Denying Routine To Costs To Tenants After Landlords Dismissed The Unlawful Detainer Case Without Prejudice
Absence Of A Settlement Agreement Was Critical, Not To Mention Facts Indicating That Tenants Forced The Dismissal Because Landlords Knew They Might Lose. In Treybig v. Meza, Case No. 2024-01416924 (Orange County Superior Court, App. Div. Nov. 20, 2025, posted Dec. 12, 2025) (published), tenants contested an unlawful detainer by arguing that landlords unreasonably refused…
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Employment, Ethics: $576,000 Attorney’s Fees Award Against Cross-Defendant On FEHA Claim Allowed As An Amendment On The Eve Of Trial Was Affirmed Where The Cross-Complainant Recovered $1.4 Million In Damages
Cross-Complainant Sought $1.25 Million In Fees; Fees Were Appropriate Despite The Delay In Adding The FEHA Cross-Claim. This case is interesting to show how procedural rulings to add a claim at trial—such as a FEHA cross-claim—can make or break the affirmance of a subsequent fee award to the prevailing FEHA cross-complainant. Pak v. Rassman, Case…
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Arbitration: Yet Another Employer Arbitration Late Payment Case Remanded To See If There Is A Cognizable Excuse Under Hohenshelt
Facts Are Not Clear Cut To Require A Reversal As A Matter Of Law As In Recent 2/1 DCA Wilson Opinion. We accurately did predict that, post-Hohenshelt, many trial court decisions would be remanded to see if the employer had reasonable excuses to make untimely arbitration payment of expenses under CCP § 1287.97. That prediction…
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Employment, Prevailing Party: Employee Winning $11,594.80 In Labor Code Violations Had $163,440 Fee Award Reversed And Remanded
Reason Was That The Lower Court Applied The CCP § 1032 Prevailing Party Rigid Test, Rather Than A More Pragmatic Approach Which Governed Statutory Violations. In German v. La Floure, LLC, Case No. D086600 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Dec. 10, 2025) (unpublished), plaintiff won wage/hour violations against defendants to the tune of $11,594.80 in damages,…