Common Benefit Analysis Led To Recovery Of Fees By One Tenant In Common. Although the facts are quite interesting from a partition perspective, Villicana v. Lindsay, Case No. G052709 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Oct. 13, 2016) (unpublished) stands for the proposition that a trial judge has authority to award attorney’s fees to one […]
Voluntary Reduction By County Was Due To Retirement Of Certain Employees, Not Change In Methodology By Which Fees Calculated Such That Plaintiff Was Not Successful For 1021.5 Purposes. California Public Records Research, Inc. v. County of Yolo, Case No. C078158 (3d Dist. Oct. 14, 2016) (published) involved a plaintiff’s challenge to the fees
Action Sounded In Both Contract And Tort, So Recovery Allowed. In GoTek Energy, Inc. v. SoCal IP Law Group, LLP, Case No. B266681 (2d Dist., Div. 6 Oct. 12, 2016) (published), an initial law firm providing patent application work for a client beat back a legal malpractice action based on the governing statute
4/3 DCA Sides With First District in USS-Posco Decision On Retroactivity Issue. On January 1, 2014, Labor Code section 218.5 was amended significantly, changing a reciprocal fee-shifting statute in an employment context to only vex a losing plaintiff bringing certain wage/hour cases in bad faith. The retroactive impact of this decision was squarely
Joint Offer Could Be Assessed, Plus 998 Offer Condition Of Verifying Existence of Insurance Limits Did Not Void The Offer. In Markow v. Rosner, Case Nos. B260715/B262530 (2d Dist., Div. 1 Oct. 4, 2016) (published), husband and wife won an eventual medical malpractice/loss of consortium action against doctor and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to
Remanded On Costs-Of-Proof Award; Expert Witness Fee Award Affirmed Based On Inadequate Appellate Record. In Roldan v. Flores, Case No. B260336 (2d Dist., Div. 3 Oct. 5, 2016) (unpublished), a lower court awarded costs-of-proof sanctions in the amount of $48,000 for defendant’s failure to admit certain RFAs in a plaintiff motorized bicyclist-defendant car
Certified For Publication On October 5, 2016. In our post of September 13, 2016, we discussed Hjelm v. Prometheus Real Estate Group, a 1/1 DCA unpublished decision which affirmed a $326,475 attorney’s fees award under Civil Code section 1717 to tenants in a “bedbug” inhabitability case based on a lease fees clause. We
Certiorari Granted With Consolidated Case On September 29, 2016. On September 29, 2016, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. v. Haeger, No. 15-1406 (U.S.), a Ninth Circuit 2-1 decision [discussed in our July 21, 2015 post], and consolidated it with Musnuff v. Haeger, No. 15-1491
Result Was That Appellate Court Could Not Entertain Challenge To $187,000 Fee Award. For you readers out there which follow our post, we have many, many times observed that practitioners should independently appeal any separate fee awards no matter when made just to be safe. This next case illustrates why this needs to
Subcontractor Assignee Did Recover $282,915 In Fees/$35,859.85 In Costs Based On Compensatory Award Of $220,045. In Mako Investments, LLC v. West Coast Contractors of Nevada, Case No. C073867 (3d Dist. Oct. 3, 2016) (unpublished), general contractor (West Coast) and subcontractor (Zephyr, which assigned its claim to an assignee) got into a dispute over
