Work Authorization Was Part of the Contract, Sustaining Fee Recovery. Cooley’s General Pest and Termite Control, Inc. v. Westlake Bay Homeowners Assn., Case No. B221937 (2d Dist., Div. 6 May 24, 2011) (unpublished) is a case where an HOA was hit with a $102,025 attorney’s fees award under Civil Code section 1717. (Could have […]
Postponed Until May 25, 2011 As we reported to our readers over the weekend, MGA Entertainment is seeking substantial fees and costs from Mattel based on its recent jury trial win in federal court, Bryant v. Mattel, Case No. 04-09049 (C.D.Cal.). Although Mattel is seeking to overturn the jury verdict, it has now
Second District, Division 6 Does So While Affirming $75,000 Sanctions Award. In Marriage of Lancashire, Case No. B217022 (2d Dist., Div. 6 May 23, 2011) (unpublished), the Second District, Division 6 discussed deadlines for bringing attorney’s fees motions based on sanctionable conduct of family law litigants under Family Code section 271 before it
Neither the Conditions of the Trust Nor Fee-Shifting Statute Were Met Here. In our March 24, 2010 post, we discussed the fee-shifting parameters of Probate Code section 17211(b) in the context of Leader v. Cords, 182 Cal.App.4th 1588 (2010). Leader has been discussed in other posts, namely, our March 24, 2010 post on Leach
May Not Be That Significant, But Rift Is There. As reported by Will Reisman in his May 22, 2011 post on the on-line version of The San Francisco Examiner, Caltrain and the California High-Speed Rail Authority are not simpatico on “splitting” certain attorney’s fees racked up by Caltrain. There seems to be
Another “Bright-Line” Rule Emanates In Recent 998 Decision. Engle v. Copenbarger & Copenbarger, 157 Cal.App.4th 165, 168-169 (2007) announced a “bright-line rule” in the CCP § 998 area: a defense offer silence as to costs and fees means that they are excluded from the ambit of the offer, such that plaintiff should have
Amount Has Not Been Disclosed, But Rumors Have it At Hovering Around $150 Million. Bratz doll manufacturer MGA Entertainment, Inc., fresh after its copyright infringement win in a jury trial venued in Santa Ana federal court against Mattel, has moved to recover fees of an unknown amount through recently-filed, redacted motion papers. In support
Justice Bedsworth Gives Us Two Fee Case “Gems.” Justice Bedsworth, who sits on the Fourth District, Division 3 (the venue where co-contributors Marc and Mike are based practice-wise), has written two interesting decisions on lodestar/reasonableness of fees. Both involved trial court decisions dramatically cutting fee requests. On appeal, one got reversed and the other
Case Highlights How Fee Recoveries Can Be Substantial in Fairly Standard Real Estate Cases. Mehrabian v. Meruelo Maddux Properties-Ponte Vista, LLC, Case No. B219623 (2d Dist., Div. 1 May 19, 2011) (unpublished) is not so remarkable for its conclusion, but highlights the high costs of fairly standard real estate litigation and demonstrates the
Court to Dentist: You Owe $80,714 in Fees to SLAPP Defendants in Yelp Lawsuit. As reported by Donna Domino in a May 17, 2011 post in Practice Management, California dentist Dr. Yvonne Wong was SLAPPed in a defamation suit against a patient’s parents and Yelp.com over negative reviews, following on the heels of
