Author name: Marc Alexander

Employment: Employer Winning Wage Nonpayment Claim, Not Based On Minimum Wage Violation Where Attorney’s Fees Requested At Initiation Of Suit, Entitled To Fee Recovery

Cases: Employment

  Lower Court Fee Denial Reversed on Appeal.      Relying on Kirby v. Immoos Fire Protection, Inc., 53 Cal.4th 1244, 1251 (2012) and Aleman v. Air Touch Cellular, 209 Cal.App.4th 556, 580 (2012), the appellate panel in Ayala v. Aldersgate Investment, LLC, Case No. B244513 (2d Dist., Div. 6 Mar. 21, 2013) (unpublished) reversed a […]

Discovery/Sanctions: Attorney Not Complying With Court Order On Letter Sent to Defense Customers Was Properly Hit With Discovery Sanctions

Cases: Discovery, Cases: Sanctions

       In Leeyer v. Pro Circuit Products, Inc., Case No. D059660 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Mar. 19, 2013) (unpublished), an attorney was hit with $6,400 in discovery sanctions under CCP § 2030.030 for not abiding with the terms of a court order regarding the form of a letter sent to defendant’s customers buying a

Fee Clause Interpretation: “Incorporation By Reference” Of An Exhibit With A Fees Clause Into Contract Gave Rise To Fee Entitlement

Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation

       Demari v. Desert Oasis Mobile Estates, Case No. F064419 (5th Dist. Mar. 19, 2013) (unpublished) was a situation where plaintiff sued defendants for breach of contract and was defensed through a demurrer which was sustained without leave to amend. Then, the lower court granted attorney’s fees in favor of defendants as prevailing parties.

Probate: Trustee Found To Breach Fiduciary Duties Was Correctly Not Assessed With Frivolous Accounting Defense Fees Because Trustee Actually Won On Some Damage Claims

Cases: Probate

       We have discussed before Probate Code section 17211(b), which allows a beneficiary the ability to collect attorney’s fees and costs in a situation where the lower court determines that a trustee contested an accounting challenge petition without reasonable basis–with the statute being guided by an objectively reasonable standard akin to that utilized in

Tort Of Another: Plaintiff Defeating Usury Counterclaim Entitled To Fees Under This Doctrine Against Unlicensed Broker, Because Proof Of Broker’s Conduct Needed To Defeat Usury Claim

Cases: Tort of Another

       Plaintiff won contract/tort claims arising from loans made to a deceased person brokered by an unlicensed broker who happened to be a trustee of the deceased person’s trust. The win included defeating a usury counterclaim brought by the estate. The lower court then found that plaintiff was entitled to attorney’s fees as additional

Family: Third Party Joined In Dissolution Proceeding Can Be Subject To 2030 Fee Exposure Even If Merits Of Case Not Proven And Even If No Prima Facie Causal Connection Yet Shown

Cases: Family Law

       In Marriage of Bendetti, Case No. B228045 (2d Dist., Div. 5 Mar. 19, 2013) (partially published), first wife alleged that husband fraudulently transferred property to second wife, who was joined in the dissolution proceeding. First wife then moved for pendente lite fees, and she was awarded $131,750 in needs-based attorney’s fees under Family

In The News . . . . Ninth Circuit Affirms Civil Rights Fee Recovery For Holding Plaintiff At Gunpoint Too Long And Lake Forest Spent $67,000 In Fees/Costs In Dispute Against Councilman Adam Nick, With More To Come

In The News

  Seattle Civil Rights Case — $1 Verdict; $92,000 In Fees Affirmed.      In Rutherford v. Seattle Police Dept./Chin, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a $1 jury verdict in favor of Plaintiff in a civil rights case where a man was held too long at gunpoint for a minor traffic infraction by Seattle

In The News . . . . San Luis Obispo Agrees To Pay $133,880 To Local Litigators Successfully Representing Homeless People Under Private Attorney General Statute

In The News

       As reported by Matt Fountain in a recent New Times post, the San Luis Obispo City Council has agreed to approve payment of $133,880 to some local attorneys who successfully represented nearly 100 homeless people charged with sleeping in their vehicles. A local superior court judge had ruled that the attorneys were entitled

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