Author name: Marc Alexander

Prevailing Party, Section 1717: Trial Court Properly Denied Section 1717 Fees To Plaintiff Winning $338,750 And To Cross-Complainant Winning $32,960

Cases: Prevailing Party, Cases: Section 1717

Neither Side Obtained Complete Success, With Both Suffering Significant Defeats In The Overall Litigation.             Both sides in 12400 Stowe Drive, LP v. Cycle Express, LLC, Case No. D069738 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Sept. 28, 2018) (unpublished) were unhappy that the trial judge found neither to be the “prevailing party” based on a lease fees […]

Class Action: Attorneys’ Failure To Disclose Separate Settlement For Fee Recovery With Defendant W/O Court Approval Gave Lower Court Exclusive Concurrent Jurisdiction To Order Disgorgement Of $5M Court-Escrowed Fees To Class Members Rather Than Attys.

Cases: Class Actions

Class Action Fiduciary Duties and Court’s Continuing Equitable Authority To Do Justice Justified The Lower Court’s Decision To Award Attorneys Nothing.             Lofton v. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Case No. A146282 (1st Dist., Div. 3 Sept. 28, 2018) (published) is a stark reminder to attorneys that trial courts have broad jurisdiction to administer justice and

Fee Clause Interpretation, Reasonableness Of Fees: Appellant’s Failure To Discuss Fee Clause Entitlement Under Note Fees Clause And Failure To Provide Reporter’s Transcript (RT) Of Fee Hearing Doomed Merits Of Her Appeal

Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees

Absence Of RT Can Be Fatal Indeed, Meaning Inadequate Record On Appeal.             Appellants need to address legal fee entitlement bases and provide a reporter’s transcript of a fee hearing when challenges are made to either the merits or the amount of fees awarded. We have posted many times about how appellate courts will rebuff

Appealability, Special Fee Shifting Statute: Law Of The Case Did Not Prevent Lower Court From Considering Alternative Ground For Fee Entitlement Ignored Previously In Prior Appellate Decision

Cases: Appealability, Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes

However, Fee Recovery Under Government Code Section 800(a) Limited To $7,500 Per Case, No Matter How Many Parties Or Whether Multiple Issues Were Involved.             Fratus v. County of Contra Costa, Case No. A153424 (1st Dist., Div. 1 Sept. 28, 2018) (unpublished) is a situation where the appellate court reversed the denial of attorney’s fees

SLAPP: Winning SLAPP Defendants’ $244,418.57 Fee Request Correctly Pared Down To $69,500 For The Final Fee Award

Cases: SLAPP

Fee Request Claimed High Hourly Rates And Inflated Work Requests.             By now, readers will know that winning defendants in SLAPP motions are entitled to a fee recovery. (Code Civ. Proc., § 425.16(c)(1).) Despite this entitlement, however, the fee request must be reasonable under the lodestar analysis, allowing a trial judge to deny entirely or

Special Fee Shifting Statute: Government Entity Is Entitled To Actual Expenditures To Produce A Copy Of Police Body Camera Video Recordings, Including Costs Of Extracting Exempt Material With The Aid Of Computer Programming

Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes

Costs Are Allowed Under Government Code Section 6253.9(b)(2).             The First District, Division 3, in National Lawyers Guild, San Francisco Bay Area Chapter v. City of Hayward, Case No. A149328 (1st Dist., Div. 3 Sept. 28, 2018) (published), decided that a City’s actual expenditures to produce a copy of police body camera video recordings, including

Employment: Under PAGA, Individual Officer/Agent Of Corporate Employer—“As Other Person” Specified In PAGA–Can Be Liable For Civil Penalties, Attorney’s Fees, And Costs To An Aggrieved Employee

Cases: Employment

Labor Code Section 2699(g) Is The Predicate Fee/Costs Entitlement Statutory Provision.             The Fourth District, Division 1, in Atempa v. Pedrazzani, Case No. D069001 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Sept. 28, 2018) (published) held that an individual officer/agent of a corporate employer can be held liable for civil penalties, attorney’s fees, and costs under PAGA for

Civil Rights, Reasonableness Of Fees, Substantiation Of Fees: Third Circuit Court Of Appeals Denies Unreasonable Civil Rights Fee Petition And Affirms Sanctions Of $25,000 Against Attorney

Cases: Civil Rights, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees, Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

Entire Fee Motion Denied For Misconduct And Inflated Fees, A Companion To Our Post On The Clemens Decision.             While co-contributor Mike was out on a short vacation, his legal assistant Shanna Strader was kind enough to post on Clemens v. New York Cent. Mut. Fire Ins. Co., No. 17-3150 (3d Cir. Sept. 12, 2018)

Request For Admissions, Section 998: Plaintiff Insured Losing Insurance Breach/Implied Covenant Lawsuit Had To Pay State Farm $167,861.50 In Costs-Of-Proof Sanctions For RFA Denials And $50,664.44 In Expert Witness Fees After 998 Offer Rejected

Cases: Requests for Admission, Cases: Section 998

Substantial Costs Awards Are Becoming More Prevalent In Corporate Defendant Type Situations.             In several recent posts in the last few months, we have noted a trend for personal injury or consumer plaintiffs to suffer adverse costs awards of a substantial nature. This, of course, counsels that CCP § 998 offers must be carefully assessed

Cases Under Review, Intellectual Property: SCOTUS Will Decide Whether “Full Costs” To Prevailing Party In Copyright Case Is Limited To Taxable Costs Or Non-Taxable Costs

Cases: Cases Under Review, Cases: Intellectual Property

Case Will Resolve Split Among 8th, 9th, and 11th Circuits.             On Thursday, September 27, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Rimini Street Inc. v. Oracle USA Inc., No. 17-1625 (U.S. Sept. 27, 2018, cert. granted from Ninth Circuit opinion).   Here is the issue to be decided, one resolving a split between the

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