Fee Dispute Involving General Chuck Yeager Did Not Go His Way, Although Winning Attorney Did Not Get All Collection Fees Either. Pavone v. Yeager, Case No. Do59578 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Nov. 18, 2013) (unpublished) is a fee dispute involving a former attorney and ex-client General Charles E. (Chuck) Yeager, whose wife Victoria […]
Trial Court Did Abuse Discretion By Reducing Discounted Fee Request By Another Half. Corporations Code section 1604 provides that if a corporation fails without justification to comply with a shareholder demand for inspection of documents, the corporation can be assessed with attorney’s fees to reimburse the shareholder in connection with litigation involving the
NALFA Conference in San Francisco. The National Association of Legal Fee Analysis (NALFA) held its 2013 annual Attorneys Fees Conference in San Francisco on October 23, 2013. Although neither of the co-contributors of this blog were able to attend due to conflicts, looks like class actions were a dominant part of the
If you are tracking the costs of a frivolous appeal, the recent opinion in Estate of Schooler, Case No. D062217 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Nov. 15, 2013) (unpublished) might help you. There, the reviewing court imposed these sanctions for a frivolous appeal: (1) $10,725 in favor of one set of respondents; (2) $8,760
Coastal Commission’s Failure to Track Public Resources Language Did Not Trigger 1021.5 Fees. Norberg v. California Coastal Comm’n, Case No. G047522 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Nov. 15, 2013) (published) involved a situation where residential homeowner obtained mandate directing the California Coastal Commission to set aside certain conditions restricting use of future shoreline protective
In an online ABA Journal article by Debra Cassens Weiss, University of Colorado law professor Paul Campos, after a study of certain ABA-accredited U.S. law school budgets, estimates that 80-85% are losing money in the present fiscal year!
Appeals Decided At A Low Number From 2005; Reverse Rate Only 18%; Most Appeals Decided Within 15 Months. HAT TIP–We give a “hat tip” to fellow blogger Greg May (The California Blog of Appeal) for providing some summaries of the “2013 Court Statistics Report: Statewide Caseload Trends 2002-2003 through 2011-2012,” focusing mainly on
Given California’s More Liberal Approaches, These Alternatives Might Offer Guidance. California endows trial judges with quite a bit of discretion when fixing the reasonableness of fees in a fee petition proceeding. Hourly rates can be pegged based on attorney declarations, surveys, matrices, and the like. Lodestar adjustments, upward or downward, are based on
Some Fee Recoveries Went POOF, Some Stayed, and Some Will Be Re-Done. Kirk v. Dimitri, Case No. D058758 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Nov. 13, 2013) (unpublished) was a multi-party case arising from a failed residential real estate venture in Fallbrook. Ultimately, a jury and then a court in an equitable trial entered various
Interrelatedness of Contract/Wage Nonpayment Administrative Proceedings and Trade Secret Bad Faith Justified Sustaining of Lower Court Awards. Plaintiff lost both DLSE administrative proceedings and a breach of contract/trade secret case against various defendants, with the lower court then awarding one defendant Labor Code section 98.2 fees of $43,881.25 for winning the DLSE appeal/beating
