Marathon Funding, LLC v. Paramount Pictures, Case No. B240723 (2d Dist., Div. 8 Mar. 4, 2013) (Unpublished).
In this first one, defendant won more than $690,548.90 in posttrial attorney’s fees under an investment agreement providing fees to the winner “in any action, suit, or other proceeding [that] is instituted concerning or arising out of this Agreement.” Contesting appellant did not win on appeal, because the provision was broad and encompassed breach of fiduciary duty tort claims. Also, the amount awarded was reasonable (out of a requested $768,948.40) given appellant did not challenge any single billing entry or affirmatively prove why the bills were excessive.
Charles Virzi Constr. v. Studer, Case Nos. G044326/G04548 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Mar. 4, 2013) (Unpublished).
The second one goes to show you that appellate justices will do the math and make corrections to fee awards for arithmetic errors. Here, Justice Ikola on behalf of a 3-0 panel reduced the lodestar by $17,000 because the amounts in the requesting fee declarations simply didn’t add up!
First calculating machine presented to Smithsonian. 1937. Library of Congress.
The Duringer Law Group v. MacMillan, Case No. G046637 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Mar. 4, 2013) (Unpublished).
Our last surveyed decision in the March 4 trifecta is a situation where defendants were awarded $105,025 in fees and costs (out of a requested $144,679 in fees) for prevailing on SLAPP motions. Presiding Justice O’Leary on behalf of another 3-0 panel decision found that (1) the result was appealable because the loser did not have to separately appeal a fee order “fixing” the amount of the award where an appeal was taken from a previous order awarding unfixed fees, and (2) the amounts awarded did not constitute an abuse of discretion because there was a large record to parse through and the matter was heavily litigated.