Case Has A Nice Discussion Of The Law, Showing You Need Some Third Party Litigation Rather Than Just Fees Incurred In Litigating The Action Itself.
In Parrish v. Stoll, Nussbaum & Polakov, Case No. G062005 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Apr. 24, 2024) (unpublished), our local Santa Ana appellate court faced an appeal from a denial of attorney’s fees under the tort of another doctrine by a former client claiming entitlement to fees incurred in defending an action by former counsel which client incurred against the former lawyer’s attempt to collect or retain an unreasonable fee. After extensively surveying tort of another law, the appellate court concluded that there was no third-party litigation such that fees simply incurred in defending the action by former attorney did not qualify under this exception to the American Rule that each sides bears its own fees. Besides that, the panel concluded that former client had shown no damages on the legal malpractice claim given that client got a hefty settlement recovery. Acting Presiding Justice Bedsworth authored the 3-0 opinion.