However, $212,076.50 In Defense Fees Under Civil Code Section 1717 Are Sustained.
In Steiner v. Thexton, Case No. C075266 (3d Dist. Aug. 18, 2016) (unpublished), the defense won a case and was awarded $212,076.50 out of a requested $214,576.50 in attorney’s fees under Civil Code section 1717—with the loser not contesting fee entitlement under section 1717. The lower court also allowed $5,560 in expert witness fees as costs based on a costs memorandum.
The expert fee award was vacated. The reason was that these fees could not be claimed as fees under section 1717, with the appellate court rejecting the lower court’s reliance on Bussey v. Affleck, 225 Cal.App.3d 1162 (1990) based on Bussey not being followed by most other California courts. The expert fees were not proven pursuant to an evidentiary hearing, with the fees clause not allowing them to be claimed just as costs given how it was worded. However, on the attorney’s fees issue, there is a good discussion of how California state law does not require detailed billings to substantiate a fee request as long as there is an attorney declaration providing some level of detail.