$20,147.50 Fee Award and $3,581.87 Costs Award Go POOF!
We have many times explored the restriction in Trope v. Katz, 11 Cal.4th 274, 292 (1995) [one of our Leading Cases], where in propria persona attorneys cannot recover Civil Code section 1717 fees expended in litigating matters on their own behalf. The hallmark of situations falling outside of Trope is the existence of a truly independent attorney-client relationship, such as exists with in-house counsel or with firm attorneys representing an individual attorney’s personal interests.
In Juknavorian v. Sands & Associates, Inc., Case No. B221207 (2d Dist., Div. 7 Dec. 29, 2010) (unpublished), a $20,147.50 fee award and $3,581.87 costs award were reversed because of ambiguity in declarations supporting the fee proceeding–reminding us all to be careful of how the proof is framed. Put simply, the attorneys seeking fees were listed as “of counsel” but one of the fee declarations indicated the declarant was “an attorney with Sands and Associates” (the fee claimant). This “loose language” in the declaration was insufficient to establish the existence of an independent attorney-client relationship between the declarant/her colleague and the winning firm. Reversed. . . . in the case of the fee proceeding with the “loose” declaration language.
