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Costs, Prevailing Party, Section 1717: $379,280.25 Prevailing Party Award Under A Contractual Fees Clause Was Affirmed On Appeal
. . . However, A Costs Item For Models And Exhibit Photocopies Was Stricken On Appeal, Because Costs Relating To A Demurrer Hearing Are Not Recoverable Because Costs Statute Only Applies To Trier Of Fact Stages Of The Litigation. Marosi v. TriCo Bancoshares, Case No. H051989 et al. (6th Dist. July 20, 2026) (unpublished) is…
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SLAPP: $40,000 SLAPP Fee Award Was Affirmed Because Lack Of A Reporter’s Transcript Impeded Review Of The Fee Amount
Besides, The Fee Request Was $52,215, So The Lower Court Did Exercise Discretion. In Obiora v. PWxyz, LLC, Case No. B349757 (2d Dist., Div. 3 July 20, 2026) (unpublished), after a SLAPP grant, an attorney’s fees award of $40,000 was awarded to the prevailing party, although the total request was $52,215. The appellate court affirmed,…
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Family Law: $11,000 Sanctions Award Under Family Code Section 271 Was Reversed Because Entire Record Showed That Ex-Wife Was Neither Uncooperative Nor Unreasonable
As A Matter Of Law, The Totality Of Circumstances Showed No Predicate For 271 Sanctions. The result in Marriage of Ortiz and Rivera, Case No. G064694 (4th Dist., Div. 3 July 15, 2026) (unpublished) does not happen often, but it does show that an appellate court can review the entire record and determine that, as…
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Reasonableness Of Fees, Special Fee Shifting Statutes: $53,527 In Attorney’s Fees To Winning Neighbor In Civil Harassment Restraining Order Proceeding Was Affirmed On Appeal
Lower Court Did Reduce The Requested Fees By About 30%. A neighbor won a civil harassment restraining order proceeding in Judson v. Tait, Case No. B346920 (2d Dist., Div. 6 July 14, 2026) (unpublished), subsequently requesting prevailing party fees of $76,467 under a fee-shifting statute in this area. The lower court reduced the request by…
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Costs: $26,489.42 Costs Award For Lawyer And Paralegal Time In Preparing 4,000 Page Administrative Record Was No Abuse Of Discretion
No Per Page Charge Is A Mandatory Requirement. In Moving Oxnard Forward, Inc. v. City of Oxnard, Case No. B338323 (2d Dist., Div. 6 July 14, 2026) (unpublished), City was awarded $26,489.42 in costs under CCP § 1094.5(a) for lawyer and paralegal time in preparing an administrative record even though the costs memorandum was filed…
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Civil Rights, Reasonableness Of Fees: ADA Default Judgment With Injunctive Relief Did Change The Relationship Between The Parties, Which Means A Denial Of Attorney’s Fees Was Erroneous
However, Ninth Circuit Did Agree The District Court, On Remand, Could Find Use of Recycled Work And Errors In The Fee Petition Would Justify A Reduction On Reasonableness Grounds. In Price v. Diab, No. 25-713 (9th Cir. July 13, 2026) (published), the district court granted an American with Disability Act (ADA) plaintiff a default injunction…
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Insurance: 1/1 DCA, Despite Holding Differently Earlier, Finds That Insured Is Entitled To Brandt Fees On Appeal
It Found Baron More Persuasive. In RMB Real Estate Investments 2, LLC v. California Capital Ins. Co., Case No. A170466 (1st Dist., Div. 1 July 13, 2026) (unpublished), the appellate court affirmed a case against an insurance carrier after determining that a 10:1 punitive ratio passed constitutional muster. However, on appeal, the issue arose as…
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Appeal Sanctions, Paralegal Time, Reasonableness Of Fees: Trial Court’s Refusal To Award Contractual Fees For Paralegal Work Reversed On Appeal
Also, Attorney Fee’s Reductions Were Affirmed And Appellant Was Ordered to Pay Minimal Appeal Sanctions For AI Hallucinations In Appellate Briefing. The memorable thing about this opinion, Del Biaggio v. Bansen, Case No. A174647 (1st Dist., Div. 4 July 10, 2026) (published), is what it determined in compensating paralegal work under a contractual fees clause…
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Civil Rights: South Dakota Federal District Judge Issues A Substantial Fee/Costs Award Of Around $2.5 Million To Prevailing Plaintiffs In An Indigenous Tribal Civil Rights Dispute Involving A South Dakota Hotel
Plaintiffs Prevailed In Protracted, Bitterly-Fought Litigation Where The Jury Verdict Was Only Around $64,000 In Total. Although we usually post on California fees cases, the fee award in the federal civil rights case of NTN Collective v. Retsel Corporation d/b/a Grand Gateway Hotel, No. 5:22-cv-05027-KES (D.S.D. July 7, 2026 fee award; Doc. No. 485) caught…
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Family Law: $20,000 Monetary Sanctions Affirmed Where Losing Litigant Did Not Disclose Any Objection To Bifurcate Trial On The Premartial Agreement Validity
Delay In Asserting An Objection To Bifurcating Trial Was Dispositive. Perceived gamesmanship can be punished; we bloggers are not the judges of whether that has happened, but we only post on what we see is decided by the courts and subject to what you readers think when reading the case. Gamesmanship, we believe, was not…