Problem Was That Joint Tortfeasor Situation Will Not Justify Fees Under This Theory.
Raicevic v. Lopez, Case No. D061253 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Jan. 23, 2015) (unpublished) illustrates a principle that is important in this area of the law—“tort of another” fees will not be awarded in a multiple tortfeasor situation.
What happened here is that plaintiffs won a total of $588,000 on intentional and negligent misrepresentation claims and then also obtained fee awards of about $270,000 against a couple of the tortfeasors. Well, that went away on appeal because the “tort of another” doctrine does not operate to confer fee recovery against some members in a multiple tortfeasor situation. (Gorman v. Tassajara Development Corp., 178 Cal.App.4th 44, 80 (2009).)