Song-Beverly Act Plaintiff Receiving No Damage Award Can Still Be A Prevailing Party, And There Can Be More Than One Prevailing Plaintiff Where Two Plaintiffs Are Involved.
In our December 18, 2019 post, we discussed Patel v. Mercedes-Benz USA, Case No. B293813 (2d Dist., Div. 4), which was unpublished at the time. The case decided that there can be more than one prevailing plaintiff for Song-Beverly Act fee shifting purposes in a lemon law case, where one plaintiff did not obtain money but did achieve his litigation objective by having the car company return lease payments. The opinion also refused to limit fee recovery to just the second prevailing plaintiff, remanding for a reconsideration of the fee award. Patel was certified for publication on December 31, 2019.