Matter Remanded For Defense To Seek 998 Costs, Including $96,192.86 In Expert Witness Fees. One of the key issues in drafting Code of Civil Procedure section 998 offers is to make the offer definite enough, given there is a good body of case law offering clues on how to make offers certain in nature. […]
Demand And Revenue Is Also Up. Citi Private Bank Law Firm Group's Q1 2018 Quarterly Flash Report, which provides an overview of current financial trends in the legal industry, based on data collected through our Quarterly Flash survey of 179 law firms (80 Am Law 100 firms, 47 Second Hundred firms and 52 niche/boutique
Construction-Related Performance Relating To Retention Amount, Third Party-Lien Disputes, Or More Than Agreed-Upon Payments To Subcontractor Are Allowable Grounds For Delayed Payment, With The Holding Having Implication On Statutory Penalties and Attorney’s Fees For Delayed Payment Of Retentions. California, for both private and public projects, has enacted prompt payment statutes relating to owner/direct contractor
Bill Was Inspired By Position Taken By Government In Newark Unified School District v. Snyde/Brazil. The California Public Records Act (CPFA) has a fees/costs shifting provision in Government Code section 6259(d) which provides that the court shall award court costs and reasonable fees to the “plaintiff” should the plaintiff prevail in CPRA litigation and
Section 1038 Deadlines Are Not Jurisdictional In Nature. Code of Civil Procedure section 1038 allows an award of defense costs to a public entity that prevails on a frivolous lawsuit by means of a dispositive motion (such as a motion for summary judgment) if the public entity so moves “before the discharge of the
Expert Witness Fee Requests Did Not Have To Be Scaled Down Due To Plaintiff’s Financial Condition. On the merits, Alexander v. Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, Case No. D071001 (May 11, 2018 partially published; costs discussion not published) is a wrenching decision on a patient’s health care directives conflicting with providers’ opinions that the
Plaintiffs/Intervenors Obtain Reversal Of Lower Court’s Fee Denial As A Matter Of Law. The 1/4 DCA, in Epstein v. Schwarzenegger, Case Nos. A147092/A147366 (1st Dist., Div. 4 May 10, 2018) (unpublished), recently issued an opinion in an interesting case on a publicized event which constitutes must reading for practitioners prosecuting or defending fee requests under
It Did Not Matter That The Defense Itself Spent About $80,000 In Expert Witness Fees To Defend Themselves. Under our category “Section 998,” we have posted on numerous cases which show how even a modest 998 offer can result in significant fee- or costs-shifting in favor of the successful offeror. To this list, we
Appellate Court Did Modify Judgment To Exclude UPS Services And Copy Of Amended Summons Expense Recoupment As Routine Costs. In Lepe v. Luft Enterprises, Case No. E067382 (4th Dist., Div. 2 May 10, 2018) (unpublished), three plaintiffs won wage/hour awards against the defendant to the tune of $140,016. They then moved for fees and
We Can’t Believe The Time Has Flown By. As we age, we have all heard the adage that time seems to go even faster the older we get. Co-contributors Mike and Marc agree, at least with respect to doing ten years of blogging at this site since our first post on May 11,
