Explore thousands of curated case law summaries, expert analyses, and legal insights tailored for California attorneys. Our Articles page is your gateway to over 10,000 cited cases and abstracts — organized for fast reference and strategic research.
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Family Law: In Case Where Both Ex-Husband And Ex-Wife Had Substantial Assets, The Lower Court Erred in Denying Family Code Section 2030 Fees To Ex-Wife Because It Did Not Make Express Findings On Relative Access To Funds Or On Relative Ability To Pay
Case Remanded To Reconsider The 2030 Fee Request (Including If Fees Were Appropriate); Fees Were Properly Denied Under Family Code Section 3557 Relating To Child Support Enforcement. Marriage of Trousset and Kelley, Case No. A172398 (1st Dist., Div. 3 Sept. 4, 2026) (published), is an interesting opinion on the need to make express findings on the…
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Celebrities, Intellectual Property: After Winning The Merits Of Her Royalty Suit Against Mary Bono Who Invoked Copyright Termination Principles, Cher Loses The Secondary Battle For $1,023,605.50 In Attorney’s Fees Under The Copyright Act’s Fee-Shifting Provision
The Dispute, At Its Core, Was A Contract Dispute, Not Triggering Copyright Act Fee-Shifting. Sonny and Cher were icons in the music industry. Under a 1978 marriage settlement agreement, they agreed to split music royalties as community property, among other assets. After Sonny’s death years later, Cher sued Sonny’s second wife Mary Bono (in an…
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POOF!, Special Fee Shifting Statutes: Where Appellate Court Reversed CDAFA Jury Verdict Against Two Defendants, Prevailing Party Fees To Plaintiff Went POOF! On Appeal
Lower Court’s Denial Of Fees To A Prevailing Defendant Had To Be Reassessed Under The Court’s Earlier Hay Opinion Relating to Prevailing Defense CDAFA Fee Recovery Penal Code section 502(e)(2) of California’s Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act (CDAFA) allows a trial court to discretionarily award attorney’s fees, although there is no prevailing party language. In Hay…
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Employment, Reasonableness Of Fees: Where Plaintiff Won On 2 Out Of Eight Claims In CFRA/FEHA Case Against Defendant, Reduced $770,310 Fee Award Was Affirmed On Appeal
The Request Was $2.6 Million (Lodestar Plus 2.0 Positive Multiplier), With Lower Court Reducing Some Hourly Rates And Applying A Further 25% Reduction For Flawed Discovery Motions, Administrative Work, Travel Time, Block Billing, And Limited Success In A Case Where Plaintiff Won A $600,000 Emotional Distress Jury Verdict. In Gallegos v. University of La Verne, Case…
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SLAPP: Prevailing Defendant On A SLAPP Motion Targeting Abuse Of Process Claims Contractually Bargained Away Its Right To SLAPP Fee Recovery Under Two Settlement Agreements
Defendant Was Paid Under The Settlement Agreements, With The Appellate Court Finding No Public Policy Bar Against Bargaining Away SLAPP Fee Recovery. In Patel v. Vaghashia, Case No. B346281 (2d Dist., Div. 5 Sept. 3, 2026) (unpublished), a defendant did win a SLAPP motion against plaintiff’s abuse of process causes of action. However, because plaintiff had…
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Private Attorney General: Petitioner Winning Writ Of Mandate On City Clerk’s Removal Of Recall Petition Allegations Against Councilmember Was Erroneously Denied Private Attorney General Fees Based On The Case Not Providing A Significant Benefit
Majority Reversed And Remanded In A 2-1 Decision Based On Free Speech Principles, While A Dissenting Justice Found No Abuse Of Discretion In The Lower Court’s Fee Denial. The 2/6 DCA, in a 2-1 opinion in Grover H2O v. City of Grover Beach, Case No. B346833 (2d Dist., Div. 6 Sept. 2, 2026) (unpublished), had divergent…
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Billing Record Substantiation: Where Motion Paperwork And Billing Records Were Clear, Lower Court Erroneously Found Surety’s Request For Subsequent Fees Were Duplicative Where The Undisputed Evidence Showed The Second Request Involved Work For A Different Time Frame From The First Request
The Matter Was Remanded For Purposes Of Determining Whether The Second Requested Fees Were Reasonable In Nature. This next post shows the value of keeping good monthly billings and the beauty of being precise in correlating fee requests to specified time ranges. What happened in Business Alliance Ins. Co. v. Celis, Case No. D086880 (4th Dist., Div.…
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Costs, Section 998: After Refusing To Grant Terminating Sanctions And After The Defense Won A Jury Trial Against Plaintiff, The Lower Court Erred In Taxing Expert Witness Fees Altogether Given The Valid/Reasonable/Good Faith Section 998 Offer Made By The Defense
Case Remanded To Consider The Defense Request For $288,733.55 In Expert Witness Fees. CCP section 998 can be a game changer, as it was in this case. Plaintiff rejected a substantial 998 monetary offer, was defensed at trial, and will be subject to some imposition of expert witness fees incurred by the defense. The dramatic…
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Allocation, Section 1717: Where Trial Court Ordered Apportionment, Which Prevailing Parties Could Not Accomplish, 27% Of Requested Fee Award Was The Result
Prevailing Parties’ Counsel Passed, But The Lower Court Gave An Opportunity To Allocate—They Could Not, But It Is The Fee Claimants’ Burden Of Proof. The result in Choy v. Ribeiro Development, Inc., Case No. C100831 (3d Dist. Sept. 1, 2026) (unpublished) may at first blush seem harsh, but it is a fee claimant’s burden to justify…
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Allocation, Fee Clause Interpretation: Seller Prevailing In Buyer Case To Pay Buyer’s Broker’s Commission Was Denied Attorney’s Fees Based On A Narrow Fees Clause
Prevailing Seller Failed To Apportion Fees On Defending The Compensable Contract Claim, With No Recovery Allowable Under The Non-compensable Tort Claims. This case reinforces the propriety of apportioning fees on compensable contract claims for a prevailing party; after all, this is what the prevailing party can get—not non-compensable work on tort claims where a narrow…