Author name: Marc Alexander

Prevailing Party, Reasonableness Of Fees: $493,577.10 Attorney’s Fees Award In FEHA Case Was No Abuse Of Discretion

Cases: Prevailing Party, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees

2/8 DCA Considers Deferential Standards For Review Of Fee Awards, With The Record Establishing Plaintiff Prevailed And The Fee Amount Was Not Erroneous.                2025 greets us with a published fee decision written by Justice Wiley of the 2/8 DCA, in his recognizable writing style, with the opinion being penned in Pollock v. Kelso, Case […]

In The News: Orange County Superior Court Judge Awards Fees Of $180,260 To Prevailing Party Under The California Public Records Act

In The News

Ask Was $557,945, With Dispute Involving Production Of The Huntington Beach Air Show Settlement Agreement.                In Clayton-Tarvin v. City of Huntington Beach, Case No. 2023-01329927 (Orange County Superior Court Jan. 6, 2025 [tentative ruling on fee motion]), petitioner moved for attorney’s fees under California Public Records Act for getting Huntington Beach to produce a

Judgment Enforcement, Section 998: 998 Rejecting Plaintiff’s Post-judgment Fee Request To Obtain Defense 998 Cost And Fees Was Righteous And Should Have Been Allowed

Cases: Judgment Enforcement, Cases: Section 998

Section 998 Governed Prejudgment Issues, But 998 Offer Costs And Fees Enforcement Activities Were Governed By Post-judgment Enforcement Statutes.                In Elmi v. Related Management Co., L.P., Case No. G062788 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Jan. 8, 2025) (unpublished), plaintiff rejected a defense CCP § 998 offer, with the case resolved for less than the amount

Costs, Prevailing Party, Reasonableness Of Fees: Most Of Costs Award Is Affirmed, As Well As Substantial $1,751,500 Fee Award Is Sustained On Appeal

Cases: Costs, Cases: Prevailing Party, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees

Certain Costs Not Awardable, With Lower Court’s Fee Reduction For Incivility And Abusive Litigation Found To Be No Abuse Of Discretion.                In Madison v. Theodore, Case Nos. B310551 et al. (2d Dist., Div. 7 Jan. 8, 2025) (unpublished), appellant lost a fiduciary duty-based case against plaintiffs to the tune of $3.9 million based on

Costs: Although Employer Prevailed On Appeal, DCA Decides It Should Not Be Granted Costs On Appeal Based On Omissions And Legal Misstatements In Appellate Proceedings

Cases: Costs

Employer Had To Bear Appeal Costs Rather Than Obtaining An Award Of Them.                In Nelson v. Golden Queen Mining Co., Case No. F086907 (5th Dist. Jan. 7, 2025) (unpublished), employer won a reversal and remand of a decision denying a motion to compel an arbitration as against an employee.  However, the Court of Appeal

Reasonableness Of Fees: Second Dist. Div. 8 Affirms $493K Fee Award And 1.8 Multiplier In FEHA Case

Cases: Employment, Cases: Multipliers, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees

Attorney Fees Are Rather Discretionary, And The Trial Judge Is Usually In The Best Position To Exercise That Discretion.         Pamela Pollock alleged her supervisor, Michael Kelso, sexually harassed her and discriminated against her based on race by denying her a promotion. The trial court initially ruled the lawsuit was time-barred, but the California Supreme

Appealability, SLAPP: Defense Appeal Of Fee Award After SLAPP Merits Decided, Claiming More Fees Should Have Been Awarded, Was From A Non-appealable, Interlocutory Order

Cases: Appealability, Cases: SLAPP

Appeal Was Dismissed.                The defense in Ali v. Dignity Health, Case No. B331058 (2d Dist., Div. 5 Dec. 31, 2024) (unpublished) won some aspects of a SLAPP motion and was granted some mandatory fees, but the defense appealed and claimed that the SLAPP motion should have been granted in entirety and more fees awarded. 

Costs: Expert Witness Fees, Unsuccessful/Withdrawn Motions, Unused Witnesses/Experts/Exhibits, Subpoened Documents Not Used At Trial, And Investigative Expenses Considered On Appeal

Cases: Costs

Most Were Discretionary By The Lower Court, Except For Investigative Fees Which Are Not Allowed.                In Slutske v. Gratton, Case No. B325068 (2d Dist., Div. 1 Dec. 31, 2024) (unpublished), the appellate court largely affirmed a lower court’s determination that the following costs were allowable in its discretion based on CCP § 998 or

Year In Review—2024

Year in Review

Part 2 of 2—Mike, Marc, and Shanna’s Top 25 Decisions For 2024. 3rd Floor Corridor, James R. Browning U.S. Court of Appeals Building, San Francisco, California. Carol M. Highsmith, photographer. 2009. Library of Congress.                As we have done in the past, we post our top 25 decisions—in two parts—for 2024, which brought an influx

Section 998: Although Finding “The Defendant” Language Ambiguous And No Relevant Legislative History, 2/1 DCA Finds Unaccepted 998 Cost-Shifting Penalties Are Applicable Against A Personal Representative When Defendant Died After Rejecting 998 Offer

Cases: Section 998

Policy of Encouraging Settlements Cemented This Conclusion.                In an interesting unpublished opinion, Calleja v. Udewitz, Case No. B319906 (2d Dist., Div. 1 Dec. 30, 2024) (unpublished), the 2/1 DCA decided that CCP § 998’s cost-shifting penalties applied to a subsequent personal representative of a deceased defendant not accepting a 998 offer before his death

Scroll to Top