Author name: Marc Alexander

Allocation/Fee Clause Interpretation: $340,000 Fee Award To Former Attorney Who Became Operating Agreement LLC Member Affirmed On Appeal

Cases: Allocation, Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation

  Operating Agreement Fees Clause Was Broad, And No Allocation Needed With Respect To Time Spent On A Nominal Defendant.      This next case is very factually interesting in nature. In essence, the underlying dispute involved an attorney and clients having some claim to $12 million in California State Lottery winnings by a decedent. Attorney […]

Section 998: 2/6 DCA Decision Construes New 2016 Section 998 Law—Retroactively Applying 2005 Amendments To Clarify That Plaintiffs Are Not Exposed To Preoffer Expert Witness Fee Exposure Under 998

Cases: Section 998

  This Is A Change From Prior Law.      Toste v. CalPortland Construction, Case No. B256946 (2d Dist., Div. 6 Mar. 2, 2016) (published) is an important 2016 decision construing an important 2015 amendment to Code of Civil Procedure section 998, the section relating to pretrial offers to compromise.      The most post-worthy portion of

Lodestar/Reasonableness Of Fees: Trial Judge’s 70% Across-The-Board Reduction In All Hours Rather Than Just Flawed Hours Was Arbitrary And “Swept Too Broadly”

Cases: Lodestar, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees

  Fee Award of $59,334.60 Out Of Requested $308,425 Was Too Drastic Based On Using Improper Fee Reduction Methodology.     Haircut.  Marion Post Wolcott, photographer.  Sept. 1938.  Library of Congress.      In the last few months, we posted on some fees cases—most notably Kerkeles (see our December 20, 2015 post)—where appellate courts have reversed decisions

In The News . . . . LASC Judge Terry Green Awards $112,000 In SLAPP Fees To Colleen Brown In Charney Defamation Action

In The News

  Public Filings Had Sext-Laden Submissions.     In a case which can only be described as entertaining (among other things, apparently involving sext-laden messages), Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Terry A. Green has granted defendant Colleen Brown, American Apparel chair, $112,000 out of a requested $167,315 in attorney’s fees for successfully SLAPPing former founder

Costs: Cross-Defendant Who Obtained A Dismissal Against Cross-Complainant Not Appearing For Trial After Settlement With Other Parties Entitled To Costs

Cases: Costs

    Striking Of Entire Costs Memo Reversed; However, Appellate Court Intimated That Not All Of The Claimed Costs May Be Reasonable In Nature.        California’s routine costs statutes are an interesting lot; they are in some instances mandatory and then discretionary power is vested in lower courts even if mandatory provisions do not

Appealability/Probate: Prevailing Party Determinations Under Fee-Shifting Statutes, Without Fixing Of Fee Amounts, Were Prematurely Appealed

Cases: Appealability, Cases: Probate

  Once Amounts Fixed, Appeal Of Actual Postjudgment Awards Would Be Proper.      The Fifth District case of Estate of Kinerson, Case No. F070309 (5th Dist. Feb. 22, 2016) (unpublished) concerned certain rulings in a probate estate about whether classic cars, shop tools and household furnishings belonged to the surviving spouse as separate property or

Fee Clause Interpretation/POOF!: Nonprevailing Cross-Complainant Appealed $4.2 Million Fee Recovery In Case Producing Somewhat Split Results

Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation, Cases: POOF!

  …. Smart Move – Fee Award Entombed On Appeal. Tomb of General Ulysses S. Grant, Riverside Drive, NYC.  1897.  Library of Congress.      In U.S. Grant Hotel Ventures, LLC v. American Property Management Corp., Case No. D066490 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Feb. 19, 2016) (unpublished), parties got into a hotel management imbroglio where plaintiff

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