Author name: Marc Alexander

SLAPP: Independent Contractor Attorney Not Entitled To Recoup SLAPP Fees Where Pleading Captions And Emails Showed He Was A Member Of Recovering SLAPP Defendant Law Firm

Cases: SLAPP

  Tax Characterization as Independent Contractor Was Not Dispositive Under Trope Prohibition.      Well, given that this is in our Mission Statement on this blog, we love the beginning of the next case: “This case illustrates that “[a]ll too often attorney fees become the tail that wags the dog in litigation.” (Deane Gardenhome Assn. v. […]

Arbitration: Policy Against Certain Fee Splitting Arrangements Does Not Justify Judicial Review Of Arbitration Award Enforcing Oral Fee Splitting Arrangement

Cases: Arbitration

Arbitrator Did Not Exceed His Powers By Enforcing Oral Fee Splitting Arrangement       Attorneys Cohen and Sheinkopf had an oral agreement to split client fees:  75% to Cohen, 25% to Sheinkopf.  After the two attorneys went their separate ways, they arbitrated a fee dispute in which the arbitrator enforced their oral fee splitting agreement, resulting

Bankruptcy/Cases Under Review: SCOTUS Grants Certiorari To Decide If Bankruptcy Attorneys Can Get Compensation For Defending Fee Application Requests Relating To “Core Fees”

Cases: Bankruptcy Efforts, Cases: Cases Under Review

Bankruptcy/Cases Under Review: SCOTUS Grants Certiorari To Decide If Bankruptcy Attorneys Can Get Compensation For Defending Fee Application Requests Relating To “Core Fees” Fifth and Ninth Circuits Are Split On The Issue.      Today, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari to resolve whether bankruptcy judges have discretion under Bankruptcy Code section 330(a) to award bankruptcy

Private Attorney General: Class Representative Who Did Not Catalyze DUI Blood Draw Refunds Before Suit Filed Not Entitled To CCP § 1021.5 Fee Recovery

Cases: Private Attorney General (CCP 1021.5)

  County Actually Voluntarily Made Refunds; Class Rep’s Getting Refunds To 11 “Overlooked” Persons Did Not Constitute Substantial Class Of Persons.      Puck.  1907.  Library of Congress.       Kuklenski v. County of Ventura, Case No. B251956 (2d Dist., Div. 6 Oct. 1, 2014) (unpublished) involved a situation where a certain person who never sued brought

Civil Rights/Costs/Interest: Attorneys, Not Clients, Are Entitled to Postjudgment Interest On Fee Award And Likely Entitled To Routine Costs Recovery

Cases: Civil Rights, Cases: Costs, Cases: Interest

  . . . Unless Retainer Agreement Requires Otherwise.      Hernandez v. Siegel, Case No. A139653 (1st Dist., Div. 5 Sept. 30, 2014) (published) decided, unless a client-attorney retainer agreement dictates otherwise, post-judgment interest on a fee award and routine costs generally are interests vested in the attorney, rather than the client. The appellate court

Section 998: Defense Offer Of $30,000 Not In Bad Faith Where Insurance Company Ultimately Prevailed At Trial

Cases: Section 998

  Summary Judgment Denial Earlier Did Not Mean Offer Was Unreasonable.      In Najah v. Scottsdale Ins. Co., Case Nos. B241097/B245960 (2d Dist., Div. 4 Sept. 30, 2014) (published), defendant insurance company won in a credit bid/pre-foreclosure insurance proceeds dispute after making a rejected $30,000 CCP § 998 offer to the plaintiff side. Ultimately, the

In The News . . . . Easton Area School District Agrees To Pay $385,000 In Fees In “I (Heart) Boobies!” Case

In The News

  Protected Speech Case Finally Gets Resolved.      Easton Area School District, which is in the Lehigh Valley area of Pennsylvania, has agreed to pay the ACLU, attorneys for plaintiff students, $385,000 in fees for successfully upholding students’ rights to wear “I (heart) Boobies!” bracelets to promote breast-cancer awareness. District claimed they were lewd, but

In The News . . . . Third Circuit Affirms Nutella Class Action Attorneys Fees Spread Not Too Thick

In The News

  Fee Recovery of $1,125,000 – Less Than Requested – Survived Objector Challenges, Where Fees Based on Percentage of Recovery (Common Fund) and Independent Injunctive Relief Payment By Defendant.       Above:  Ein Glas Nutella-Nussnougatcreme.  Creator:  Rainer Zenz at de.wikipedia.  Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Germany license.             The Third Circuit Court of Appeals, in

Worker’s Compensation: S.F. State University Lecturer/Workers Comp. Applicant Denied Fees Based On 2014 Amended Version of Labor Code Section 4064(c)

Cases: Workers' Compensation

  Timing Is Everything—Applicant Would Have Recovered Fees Under Pre-2013 Version of Amended Statute.      For all of our followers, we have one for worker’s compensation practitioners—a category we do not see come up in many appellate decisions (it usually comes up through writ proceedings).      In San Francisco State University v. Workers’ Compensation Appeals

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