Author name: Marc Alexander

Landlord/Tenant/Prevailing Party:  Fees Award To Plaintiff Where Both Parties Gained Some Relief Reversed Because Trial Court Erroneously Applied Wrong Standard

Cases: Landlord/Tenant, Cases: Prevailing Party

Lower Court Used CCP § 1032, Rather Than Civil Code § 1717, For Purposes Of Determining The Prevailing Party.             8121 Van Nuys Associates, Inc. v. Hoffman, Case No. B276900 (2d Dist., Div. 4 March 21, 2018) (unpublished) involved a landlord/tenant case where both parties won some relief.  Landlord won past rent/damages, while tenant won […]

Section 1717:  Reversal Of Alter Ego Findings Meant That Fee Award Against Individual Defendant Also Reversed On Appeal

Cases: Section 1717

    Individual Defendant Was Not A Party To The Licensing Agreement With A Fees Clause Either.       In Eleanor Licensing LLC v. Classic Recreations LLC, Case Nos. B275429/B279238 (2d Dist., Div. 7 Mar. 21, 2018) (published), plaintiff won a licensing/quiet title/replevin dispute against defendants over title to a Mustang used in the movie “Gone

Cases Under Review: California Supreme Court Rules On Whether Dissolved Law Firm Retains Property Interest In Hourly Fee Matters In Progress

Cases: Cases Under Review

Answer:  The Law Firm Does Not Retain Such Interest — Because It Is Not A Property Interest — Except On Very Limited Basis.         On July 30, 2016, we posted that the Ninth Circuit certified as a question to the California Supreme Court whether a dissolving law firm has any property interest in unfinished hourly business. 

Reasonableness Of Fees/Section 998:  Trial Judge Properly Awarded Defense $177,221.57 In Attorney’s Fees And Costs After Plaintiffs Failed To Support Amount Of Requests After Accepting 998 Offers

Cases: Reasonableness of Fees, Cases: Section 998

Excessive Hourly Rates, Vague Billing Entries, Excessive Billing Entries, Work Duplication, And No Justification For Positive Multiplier Rationales By Trial Judge Constituted No Abuse Of Discretion.             FEHA plaintiffs accepted CCP § 998 offers from two defendants by which money was paid to them and which allowed for recovery of claimed preoffer fees and costs

Request For Admissions/Section 1717: Trial Judge Correctly Denied Proof Of Costs Sanctions And Attorney’s Fees To Prevailing Parties

Cases: Requests for Admission, Cases: Section 1717

Losing Side Had Reasonable Cause To Deny RFAs And Lack Of Agreement With Fees Clause Precluded 1717 Recovery.             In Preferred Auto Dealers Self Ins. Program, Inc. v. Anderson Enterprises, Inc., Case Nos. A148518 et al. (1st Dist., Div. 4 Mar. 2, 2018) (unpublished), PADSIP (a group self-insurer of workers’ compensation claims) lost a breach

Probate: Administrator’s Counsel Submitted Proper Proof To Allow A Claim For Extraordinary Fee Service Compensation

Cases: Probate

California Rules Of Court, Rules 7.702 And 7.703 Were Followed.         A probate court in Estate of Kokus, Case No. C076290 (3d Dist. Feb. 28, 2018) (unpublished) awarded administrator’s counsel $34,492 in extraordinary fees for helping the court address ambiguities in a will, drafting a special needs trust, and handling the sale of several items of

Mediation:  Landlord Entitled To Hefty Fee Award Against Tenant Because Record Established Landlord Did Attempt To Satisfy Mediation Condition Precedent Requirement

Cases: Mediation

Landlord Only Had To Reach Out To Mediate, Not Contact A Mediator To Satisfy The Condition Precedent.             In Silver Horse Equities, LLC v. Ahmad, Case Nos. B270944/B272092 (2d Dist., Div. 3 Feb. 27, 2018) (unpublished), landlord obtained an attorney’s fees award in the sum of $95,197.50 (out of a requested $166,511.22) as the prevailing

Fee Clause Interpretation/Prevailing Party:  Fifth District Reverses Costs Denial, Remands For Redo On Fee Clause Interpretation, And Reverses 128.7 Sanctions Award

Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation, Cases: Prevailing Party

Appellate Court Did De Novo Review On Most Issues.             In a fairly lengthy decision, the Fifth District basically reversed trial court determinations on fees and costs issues in Johnson v. Johnson, Case No. F073191 (5th Dist. Feb. 26, 2018) (unpublished), involving a dispute between siblings arising out of their real estate partnership where the

Scroll to Top