$22,000 Winner Obtained Fees Despite Not Obtaining Over $716,000 in Sought-After Damages.
Where no party under Civil Code section 1717 is a clear winner, the court has discretion to determine the prevailing party. That principle was at play in the next opinion, even though the prevailing parties only won 3% of the total damages they sought.
In Ortiz v. Gomez, Case No. B226631 (2d Dist., Div. 4 Mar. 28, 2012) (unpublished), plaintiffs lost three claims but won a contractual breach claim for $22,000, only a fraction of the $716,350 sought under their action. However, the lower court did determine that they prevailed, finding it difficult to segregate time among the causes of action and awarding them $155,807 in fees (out of a requested $162,000-plus).
The fee award was affirmed.
This one was a discretionary call, and the appellate court found nothing in the record to disturb it. Although plaintiffs did lose some claims, they did prevail on the contractual claim based upon their opponents’ delay in obtaining a certificate of occupancy. That was enough to sustain the lower court result on appeal, with no apportionment needed given the interlocking nature of the claims.