May 2018

Allocation, Homeowner Associations: Judge Presiding Trial Did Not Abuse His Discretion By Failing To Apportion Fee Work Between Contract and Noncontract Claims Where Work On These Claims Was Inextricably Intertwined

Cases: Allocation, Cases: Homeowner Associations

Plus . . . Lower Court Did Significantly Reduce Fee Request In Awarding $507,000 In Fees And $33,699 In Costs To HOA.             We repeatedly have demonstrated in posts how homeowner association disputes can be a pricey proposition, depending on which side prevailed (or, for that matter, where no side has been found to prevail). […]

In The News . . . . Stanislaus County Ordered To Pay Deceased Sheriff’s Widow’s Attorneys Nearly $1.4 Million In Fees After Prevailing In Discrimination Lawsuit

In The News

County Settled With Sheriff’s Widow For $253,000, With Fee Award Greatly Eclipsing The Compensatory Compromise.              As reported by The Modesto Bee and NALFA’s New Blog recently, Dennis Wallace was a sheriff’s deputy in Stanislaus County who was idled two years without pay. He sued Stanislaus County on discrimination claims, even though the suit had

Costs, Employment: Losing Plaintiff Properly Not Saddled With Routine Costs After Losing Age Discrimination Claim

Cases: Costs, Cases: Employment

Replacement By Younger Person Another Indicator To Prevent Routine Costs Award Under The Circumstances.              By now, our readers will know that plaintiffs losing FEHA claims generally, unless the facts are austere, avoid attorney’s fees or costs even though they ultimately lost at pleading, summary judgment, or trial stages. (To be fair, only a general

SLAPP, Substantiation Of Reasonableness Of Fees: 2/7 DCA Affirms SLAPP Fee Award To Defense Of $23,760 In Fees Out Of A $56,638 Request

Cases: SLAPP, Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

California Case Again Highlights Differences In Substantiation Required In State Versus Federal Cases.             La Grange v. Ward, Case No. B280997 (2d Dist., Div. 7 May 9, 2018) (unpublished) is an abuse of discretion case regarding the reasonableness of a trial court’s fee award, but it also highlights the differences in fee substantiation required by

Employment, Private Attorney General: $996,232.72 Fee Award Under CCP § 1021.5 Was No Abuse Of Discretion Where $227,922.43 Restitutionary Award And Injunction Relief Awarded Under Unfair Competition Law After Bench Trial

Cases: Employment, Cases: Private Attorney General (CCP 1021.5)

Section 1021.5 Elements Were Met In This Case.              In Kane v. Valley Slurry Seal Co., Case No. C079558 (3d Dist. May 8, 2018) (unpublished), plaintiffs in a wage/hour class action prevailed after a bench trial under California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL). Specifically, plaintiffs prevailed on some claims and the defense prevailed on others, but a

Class Action: N.D. Cal. District Judge Approves $45 Million In Fees/Costs To Class Counsel In Antitrust Lithium Ion Battery Class Action

Cases: Class Actions

$139.3 Million Was The Settlement “Package” Amount.              On May 8, 2018, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the Northern District of California, in In re Lithium Ion Batteries Antitrust Litig., Case No. 13-md-02420-YGR (MDL No. 2420) (N.D. Cal.), approved an award of fees and costs to class counsel in the amount of about $45 million

Class Actions: Carlton Fields’ Seventh Annual Class Action Survey Of More Than 400 General Counsel/Legal Officers Shows Increased Class Action Litigation Defense Spending By Responding U.S. Companies

Class Actions, Interesting Survey Results

Study Also Surveyed Most Prevalent Types Of Class Actions, Risk Evaluation Factors, Settlement Percentages, And Use Of Class Action Waiver Arbitration Clauses.                 Carlton Fields has published its seventh annual Class Action Survey, which surveyed more than 400 general counsel and chief legal officers in U.S. companies about class action trends for the 2017 year.

Costs, Section 998: Plaintiff Obtaining Judgment In Landscaping Dispute Did Not Favorably Obtain It For 998 Costs-Shifting Purposes

Cases: Costs, Cases: Section 998

Court-Ordered Mediation Costs Are Discretionary Costs Item For Award Purposes.              Hariri v. Clark, Case No. A149402 (1st Dist., Div. 2 May 8, 2018) (unpublished) is an interesting case showing how a CCP § 998 offer involving largely non-monetary features may not give rise to cost shifting based on the results actually obtained.              What happened

Deadlines, Employment: Maldonado 2/8 DCA Decision Now Published

Cases: Deadlines, Cases: Employment

Confirms That Deadlines To File Fees Motion Extended For Weekends and Holidays.              On April 20, 2018, we posted on Maldonado v. Epsilon Plastics, Inc., Case Nos. B278022/B281129 (2d Dist., Div. 8 Apr. 18, 2018) (unpublished; published May 8, 2018), which decided that a fee motion deadline was extended for a weekend and Holiday which intervened.

Fee Clause Interpretation, Interpleader, Section 1717: Bank Winning Fee Award For Prosecuting Interpleader Cross-Complaint And Successfully Defending Against Plaintiff’s Complaint Reversed And Remanded

Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation, Cases: Interpleader, Cases: Section 1717

Appellate Court Offered Guidance, Including That No Section 1717 Adverse Fee Award On Plaintiff’s Complaint Could Be Granted On Grounds Advanced By Lender.             Plaintiff octogenarian sued her lender on various theories stemming from lender’s failure to disburse timely insurance proceeds covering a fire loss.  In response to plaintiff’s Complaint, Lender filed an interpleader cross-complaint. 

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