Author name: Marc Alexander

Private Attorney General: $6.16 Million Fee Award Remanded For Relook After Court Of Appeal Agrees That Some Credits Should Have Been Factored In To Employee/Independent Contractor Case Involving San Diego Union-Tribune Home Carriers

Cases: Private Attorney General (CCP 1021.5)

Limited Success Has To Be Considered On Remand. "S. Russell, 33 E. 22nd St. Newsboy, 12 years of age.  Selling newspapers 2 years.  Average earnings 20 cents daily.  Selling newspapers own choice.  Father earns $18 weekly  Boy deposits earnings in du Pont Savings Bank, and on Saturday night works for Reyold's candy shop, delivering packages.  […]

Lodestar: Percentage Of Recovery Fee And Incentive Awards Reversed By Tenth Circuit

Cases: Lodestar

Lodestar Method Should Have Been Used Instead. North Star.  Photo:  Udo Kugel.  2001. Wikipedia.  Public domain.         Chieftan Royalty Co. v. Enervest Energy Institutional Fund XIII-A, No. 16-6022  (10th Cir. July 3, 2017) (published) was a class action based on diversity jurisdiction where a district judge awarded class counsel fees and a class representative an incentive

Landlord/Tenant, Prevailing Party, Section 998: $324,533.50 Fee Award To Landlord Affirmed In Second Coercive Declaratory Relief Lawsuit Against Tenant

Cases: Landlord/Tenant, Cases: Prevailing Party, Cases: Section 998

Dispute Focused On Tenant’s Ability To Use Common Areas Behind Lease Premises.             Landlord/tenant disputes can be expensive from fee expense and fee award perspectives, as Muzzi v. Bel Air Mart, Case No. C073684 (3d Dist. July 3, 2017) (unpublished) demonstrates.            In this one, landlord had to bring a “coercive” declaratory relief action against a

Class Action/Lodestar: Recent 2017 Article Suggests N.D. Cal. Federal District Judges Are Using Lodestar Rather Than Percentage Of Recovery Fee Methodology In Class Action Mega Settlement Cases

Cases: Class Actions, Cases: Lodestar

Three Federal Judges Opted To Use Lodestar Method In Recent Cases.         National Association of Legal Fee Analysis (NALFA) recently summarized a recent Reuters article suggesting that some federal judges in the Northern District of California have opted to use the lodestar approach to awarding fees, versus the percentage of recovery method, in mega-class actions with

Arbitration/Prevailing Party: Landlord Only Obtaining 5% Of Requested Damages And Voluntarily Obtaining Possession From Tenant After Contractual Termination Correctly Decided To Not Be The Prevailing Party

Cases: Arbitration, Cases: Prevailing Party

Trial Judge Correctly Decided Fee Entitlement Issue Which Was Left To The Court For Resolution By The Arbitrator.             In Newport Harbor Offices & Marina, LLC v. Kent A. McNaughton and Associates, Case Nos. G052704/G052984 (4th Dist., Div. 3 June 29, 2017) (unpublished), landlord brought an unlawful detainer action against tenant (one of landlord’s owners)

Employment: Lack Of Specific Allegations In Initial And Amended Complaints Doomed Labor Code Section 218.5 Fee Recovery Later On By Plaintiff

Cases: Employment

Specific Facts Sealed The Deal In This Decision.             Shames v. Utility Consumers’ Action Network, Case No. D070141 (4th Dist., Div. 2 June 29, 2017) (published) should be a decision of interest to employment litigation attorneys when it comes to Labor Code section 218.5 fee recovery, although its specific facts dictate the result and counsel

In The News: Recent 2017 Legal Malpractice Claims Survey Finds Claims Leveled Off For Insurers But Costs To Defend Claims Continued To Rise

In The News

Ames & Gough Did The Survey.             Ames & Gough, a specialty insurance broker, has issued the results of its 2017 survey on legal malpractice claims with nine leading lawyers’ professional insurers.  Here are the highlights: Insurers saw claims level off in 2016, but costs of defense continue to rise—eight insurers indicate the average costs

Section 998: Where Acceptance Mode Language Was Not Precise Enough, Specified Delivery Methods Were Suggested Modes Only

Cases: Section 998

After All, 998 Plaintiff Offeree Did Receive Acceptance By Mail From Defense. Safeway Food & Drugs. Photographer: John Margolies. 2003. Library of  Congress.           This next case, Lee v. Safeway Inc., Case No. A148301 (1st Dist, Div. 2 June 26, 2017) (unpublished), is interesting in the way both the trial and appellate courts confronted a

Allocation/Section 998: Plaintiff Accepting $9,980 998 Offer After Aggressive Litigation By Defense Properly Granted $93,270 In Attorney’s Fees

Cases: Allocation, Cases: Section 998

Panoply Of Defense Arguments Rejected On Appeal.             Plaintiff in Alexander v. Market Street Apartments, LLC, Case No. D070198 (4th Dist., Div. 1 June 23, 2017) (unpublished) accepted a CCP § 998 offer for $9,980 expressly allowing her to file a fees motion in a wage/hour dispute subject to a one-way favorable Labor Code fee

Prevailing Party/Reasonableness Of Fees: Only One Prevailing Party Can Be The Result In Contractual Dispute Involving Defensive Cross-Complaint

Cases: Prevailing Party, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees

  Defendant Defeating Plaintiff’s Contractual Claims Was Sole Prevailing Party, Reversing Fee Award To Cross-Defendant Prevailing On Usury Claim.           In Kelly v. Mayer, Case No. D071080 (4th Dist., Div. 1 June 23, 2017) (unpublished), plaintiff sued on a note and defendant defensively cross-claimed primarily upon fraud and usury grounds. After a 25-day jury trial,

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