Second District, Division 8 Splits on Application of the Sham Pleading Rule. Dome Entertainment Center, Inc. v. Kim, Case No. B196220 (2d Dist., Div. 8 Apr. 7, 2009) (unpublished) has an interesting discussion about the application of judicial admission and sham pleading rules in a superseded pleading context involving a litigant who claimed she […]
Second District, Division 7 Affirms Award Under Civil Code Section 1354 Despite Plaintiffs’ Lack of Standing. Here is one with a twist: plaintiffs (who are the daughter and son-in-law of actual property owners) unsuccessfully sued a homeowners association (HOA) for, among other things, enforcement of the CC&Rs. The trial court ultimately concluded that plaintiffs
Fourth District, Division 1 Offers a Tutorial on Section 271 Awards. Under our category “Family Law,” we have surveyed past attorney’s fees awards under various sections of the Family Code because, after all, we are an equal opportunity blogger and like to survey fee decisions across the board in California. One of the most
Issue Is Whether District Judges Can Enhance Lodestar Based Solely on Quality of Attorney Performance and Results Obtained Under Federal Fee-Shifting Statute. Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari on an attorney’s fees issues that has generated a split among federal appellate courts on whether district judges can enhance lodestars based solely on
DOJ Moves to Dismiss Case After Government Had Problems Turning Over Exculpatory Evidence. Defending criminal cases can be an expensive proposition. Just ask former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens. He was convicted on public corruption charges by a jury. However, his case was fraught with problems. Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) Public Integrity Section had
Attorney’s Fee Awards In the News—One Entertainment Case Whooper and Two Smaller Ones $14 Million Fee Award – Entertainment Dispute. Los Angeles County Superior Court produced one of the largest fee awards we know of (with a recent article on the award suggesting it is the biggest ever)–$14 million. Well-known author Clive Cussler
Civil Code Section 3344: Attorney’s Fees Properly Denied Where Claim Did Not Involve Identity Theft In Connection With Products, Merchandise, or Goods Fourth District, Division 3 Finds Controversy Moot, But Decides the Merits To Avoid Repetition. Civil Code section 3344(a) provides that a prevailing party in an action involving “any person who knowingly uses
Result Occurs in Unpublished Opinion by Fourth District, Division 2 POOF! strikes again. A trial court in Levy v. Pearson, Case No. E044934 (4th Dist., Div. 2 Apr. 3, 2009) (unpublished) granted defendant’s anti-SLAPP motion (which carries a mandatory award of fees in such a situation) and later awarded defendant $13,965 in
Co-contributor Mike Hensley Is Quoted. In “Slim Pickings: Meltdown business should be booming for lawyers. But it’s not,” an article posted on December 17, 2008 at thebigmoney.com, writer Chris Thompson posits that the corporate failure in America should be a big boom time for American lawyers. However, he does not believe that to
Reduced Fees Sustained in Glenn County Veterans Council Opinion. In our February 6, 2009 post, we reviewed Glenn County Veterans Council, Inc. v. County of Glenn, a Third District unpublished decision in which a trial court’s fee award of $20,000 (out of a requested $112,875) to a veterans group under Code of Civil
