Court Should Have Ordered Supplemental Useful Billing Records or Relied on Its Own Experience in Fixing Fees. In our June 30, 2008 post, we discussed the Gregg I and Gregg II duology out of the Fourth District, Division 1 about the level of detail that must be provided in fee substantiation and what […]
Breadth of Clauses Are the Determinative Factors. By way of summary adjudication, nonsuit, and directed verdict, defendants beat contract and tort claims brought by plaintiffs, with the two defendants (Mr. Sun and C2) seeking postjudgment attorney’s fees awards but only C2 garnering a $120,000 fee award for prevailing on an implied covenant contract
Published Decision Affirms Lower Court Denial of Fees. In Morrison v. Vineyard Creek, Case No. A127476 (1st Dist., Div. 5 Mar. 29, 2011) (certified for publication), plaintiff resolved a retaliatory eviction/FEHA dispute via settlement with defendants by which no wrongdoing was admitted but agreed that plaintiff could operate a family child care home
Rare SLAPP Fee Award Against Defendant Affirmed And Appellate Fees Assessed For Frivolous Appeal. On March 13, 2011, we did a post on City of Alhambra v. D’Ausilio, where a defendant losing a SLAPP motion was hit with attorney’s fees for a frivolous motion as well as appellate fees for bringing a frivolous
Arbitration Award Reinstated, Which Meant Substance of Attorney’s Fees Award Not Reviewable Absent Trial De Novo Request. Here is one of the first decisions we have summarized dealing with a fee award in a judicial arbitration award which became binding after plaintiffs dismissed a complaint without prejudice after filing a trial de novo
Discretion Only Goes So Far, Says Our Local Appellate Court Presiding Justice Sills, on behalf of a 3-0 panel of our local appellate court, determined in La Cuesta v. Benham, Case No. G043788 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Mar. 29, 2011) (certified for publication) that discretion can only go so far when a litigant
Professors Theodore Eisenberg (Cornell) and Geoffrey P. Miller (NYU) conclude that neither the American Rule nor the English Rule dominates the contracting practices of sophisticated firms This empirical study of attorney fee clauses in publicly-held companies’ contracts, guaranteed to enchant law and economics wonks, examines a data set of 2,350 contracts contained as exhibits
Raise the Argument Before the Trial Court! SLAPP has a mandatory fee-shifting provision that favors successful defendants. In Vafi v. Heather McCloseky, Case No. B223237 (2d Dist., Div. 8 Mar. 22, 2011) (certified for partial publication; fee discussion unpublished), defendants won a SLAPP motion below and also garnered a $14,327 fee award. Plaintiff
Additional Fees and Costs Awarded After Sub-Subcontractor Prevails In Contractor’s Indemnity/Misrepresentation Cross-Complaint. Civil Code section 3248(b) authorizes an attorney’s fees award in an action “brought upon” a payment bond. Contractor and a payment bond surety heavily contested a sub-subcontractor’s right to collect $148,530.50 under the bond. Sub-sub eventually prevailed, after an earlier appellate
$9,000 Attorney’s Fees Award Charged Against Probate Distribution to Losing Party. Probate is certainly an equitably driven area, as the next case shows in how one losing party was denied a fee award and another party was awarded fees to be charged against losing party’s next probate estate distribution. In Estate of Jagar,
