January 2014

Minors/Substantiation Of Reasonableness Of Fees: Apportionment Of Attorney’s Fees Sustained Because Complaining Lawyer Provided Inadequate Record Of Hours Actually Worked

Cases: Minors, Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

  First Lawyer Got $10,000; Second Lawyers Got $115,000 in Minors’ Compromise Case.      Record keeping.  Keyser Brothers Iron Works.  1971.  Jack E. Boucher, creator.  Library of Congress.      Law Offices of Marvin L. Mathis v. Lotta, Case No. B248251 (2d Dist., Div. 8 Jan. 10, 2014) (unpublished) shows the importance of providing substantiation of […]

Mediation: Because Buyers Did Offer To Mediate Before Filing Suit, Subsequent Refusal To Arbitrate Did Not Lead To Fee Disqualification

Cases: Mediation

  Mediation Fee Condition Precedent Satisfied in this Case.      For those following our blog, our category “Mediation” has many cases discussing California Association of Realtors (CAR) form California Residential Purchase Agreements having some conditions precedent to attorney’s fees recovery, with the big one being that the buyer or seller must agree to mediation before

Intellectual Property/Prevailing Party: $111,993 To Prevailing Copyright Defendant Justified Under 17 U.S.C. § 505

Cases: Intellectual Property, Cases: Prevailing Party

  This One Involved a Copyright Fight Over a Hookah Water Container.       Costumed hookah smokers.  Matthew B. Brady, photographer.  Between 1850-60.  Library of Congress.      Inhale, Inc. v. Starbuzz Tobacco, Inc., Case No. 12-56331 (9th Cir. Jan. 9, 2014) (published)—great name for a case, isn’t it—was copyright litigation over plaintiff’s claim that it had

Fee Clause Interpretation/Section 1717: Fourth District, Division 3, In Unpublished Decision Determines That Contractual “Actual Fees” Clause Subject To Civil Code Section 1717 Reasonableness Requirement

Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation, Cases: Section 1717

  Earlier, Second District, Division 2 Came to Same Result in Unpublished Opinion.      Reasonableness is one of those concepts finding wide application in the law, whether the “reasonable person” in tort or criminal law or what most judges like to see in the positions being taken by practitioners on behalf of their clients.     

Appealability/Section 998: Plaintiff’s Failure To Appeal Order To Tax Costs Ruling Was Fatal To Asking For More Expert Witness Fees Via 998 Offer

Cases: Appealability, Cases: Section 998

       Plaintiff won a procuring cause case against a well-known broker, which successfully brought a motion to tax certain costs claimed by plaintiff.      In Praham v. Pickford Real Estate, Inc., Case No. D062477 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Jan. 8, 2014) (unpublished), plaintiff appealed claiming, among other things, he should have obtained an additional

Judgment Enforcement: Parties Who Were Not Original Debtor And Who Were Not In Contractual Privity With Judgment Creditor Still Liable For Post-Judgment Collection Fees For Conspiring With Original Debtor To Evade Enforcement of Judgment

Cases: Judgment Enforcement

  CCP § 685.040 Sufficiently Broad to Cover Conspiring Parties Who Were Not Original Judgment Debtor and Who Were Not Parties to the Contract Having a Fees Clause Carrying Through to the Judgment.      Judgment creditor went through a lot of litigation to finally obtain a judgment against parties neither originally the original debtor nor

Class Action: Seventh Circuit Decision in Silverman Packed Full Of Things For Everyone – Class Counsel, Objectors, Op-Ed Pieces, Public Discussion In General

Cases: Class Actions, Cases: Common Fund

  Ultimately, 27.5% Common Fund Fee Recovery Affirmed, But … With Caveats.      Chief Judge Easterbrook, one of the “Chicago School” jurists, authored an interesting decision on August 14, 2013 in Silverman v. Motorola Solutions, Inc., 2013 WL 4082893 (3d Cir. Aug. 14, 2013). We will be curious who thinks this cuts one way or

Prevailing Party/Section 1717: LLC Co-Manager Obtaining Buy-Out In Dissolution After Two Years Of Litigation Entitled To Prevailing Party Fee Recovery Under LLC Operating Agreement

Cases: Prevailing Party, Cases: Section 1717

  Fee/Costs Award of $96,518 Affirmed on Appeal in Favor of Prevailing LLC Co-Manager.      Prevailing party status, we would observe, does focus on pragmatics, especially under Civil Code section 1717 (which allows recovery of fees under certain circumstances where there is a fees clause). The next case illustrates that in the context of a

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