Big Chunk of Settlement Went to Attorney’s Fees for Winning Plaintiff. As reported by Tony Saavedra in an article in the January 26, 2012 Orange County Register, Orange County has paid $375,000 to end a federal lawsuit alleging that sheriff’s deputies arrested the wrong man, ordered him to strip naked, and beat him […]
Plaintiffs’ Contingency Arrangement Was Valid and They Breached It. Here is an interesting one from a January 30, 2012 post in the Texas Lawyer. Thee Dallas firms — Lisal Blue of Baron and Blue; Charla G. Aldous of the Aldous Law Firm; and Stephen F. Malouf of the Law Offices of Stephen
Informative Discussion of SLAPP Fee Appealability Cases and Block Billing Implications. Though unpublished, the appellate decision in LegacyQuest v. Rosen, Case No. A129177 (1st Dist., Div. 1 Jan. 27, 2012) (unpublished) has a great discussion of SLAPP fee order appealability issues as well as trial court discretion relating to block billing time submissions
. . . On Adequate Fee Substantiation, Cost Recovery Under Civil Code Section 3334(a), And Deadlines For Submitting Amended Fee Request Information This next case is a wild thing, a second appeal involving litigants entangled in a subsurface trespass case where plaintiff was seeking to recover for defendant’s environmental contamination of its groundwater.
Situation Normal . . . Kempton v. Cooper, Case No. B229912 (2d Dist., Div. 3 Jan. 25, 2012) (unpublished) was a situation where the appellate court affirmed a trial court’s award of fees on appeal of $53,440 and costs on appeal of $1,410. There was a snafu on the costs to be awarded, necessitating
Plaintiffs’ Dismissal Cemented Costs Entitlement. Although coming about in convoluted fashion, defendant was awarded certain costs in an adjacent neighbor tree dispute where plaintiffs won a temporary restraining order but defendant voluntarily made some construction changes so that a preliminary injunction was ultimately denied. Plaintiffs then dismissed their action without prejudice. The trial
$313,000 Fee Award Affirmed on Appeal. Nonprofit interests won a mandate proceeding requiring the City of Redondo Beach to put a local coastal progress amendment to a public vote. Plaintiffs then requested an attorney’s fees award of $354,978.12 under California’s private attorney general statute (CCP § 1021.5), which included a .25 multiplier. City
Allocation Not Necessary Where Same Facts And Evidence Involved On All Claims. In Klein v. Nyamathi, Case No. B228157 (2d Dist., Div. 6 Jan. 25, 2012) (unpublished), defendants were found liable to the tune of just under $400,000 for flooding their plaintiff neighbors’ property under nuisance and breach of contract theories. The trial
“Inflated” Fee Request Justified Outright Denial By Trial Court. Plaintiff won $6,359.10 on a FEHA claim, plus $168 for missed lunch breaks. Then, this litigant sought to recover fees of $717,828.50 under FEHA for “prevailing” in the trial court. Get outta here, said the appellate court more eloquently than we in Romero
Breach of Contract Actions Within Section 218.5’s Ambit. Former employee won contractual awards for severance pay, bonus pay, and vacation pay penalties from ex-employer (totaling about $172,523), enhanced by a further attorney’s fees award of $101,100 under Labor Code section 218.5 (a mandatory fee-shifting statute allowing fees to the prevailing party in "any
