No CCP § 1021.5 Award Was Justified Under the Circumstances.
A Port of Oakland engineer won an administrative writ proceeding by which he was reinstated with back pay in LaGrone v. City of Oakland, Case Nos. A129306/A130030 (1st Dist., Div. 3 Dec. 16, 2011) (unpublished). However, his request for attorney’s fees under California’s private attorney general statute was denied by the lower court. The appellate court found this denial to be no abuse of discretion. After all, the win vindicated his personal interest versus true public interests, with even a cautionary message conveyance to the City/Port about their conduct or a change in their practices in the future not necessarily being enough to satisfy the “significant public benefit” requirement of Code of Civil Procedure section 1021.5. (Pacific Legal Foundation v. California Coastal Com., 33 Cal.3d 158, 167 (1982); Flannery v. California Highway Patrol, 61 Cal.App.4th 629, 635-636 (1998).)
Port of Oakland. Photographer: Ingrid Taylar. Source: Wikipedia.