Failure to Appeal Earlier Judgment Was Critical, With Motion to Correct Not Being the Right Move. Boteach v. Botach, Case No. B224823 (2d Dist., Div. 4 Feb. 24, 2011) (unpublished) is interesting for purposes of demonstrating that a litigant not liking an earlier costs ruling needs to appeal or bring a motion to vacate. […]
Second District, Division 6 So Holds In Suit Against Mortgage Lender. The Second District, Division 6, in Smith v. Home Loan Funding, Inc., Case No. B219372 (2d Dist., Div. 6 Feb. 24, 2011) (certified for publication), has held that a breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing claim is contract-based,
Section 1194 Harmonized With Labor Code Section 218.5; But Routine Costs Are Available For Winning Employer. Here is an interesting case involving statutory interpretation of interest to employment practitioners who follow us. In United Parcel Service Wage and Hour Cases, Case No. B221709 (2d Dist., Div. 8 Feb. 24, 2011) (certified for publication),
Second District, Division 4 Rebuffs Multiple Challenges to Costs Award by Losing Plaintiff. We have often discussed how fee awards can be substantial and crippling; however, costs award can have the same sting, especially when substantial expert witness fees are shifted because a plaintiff rejected a CCP § 998 offer that the defense
Defendant Failed to Include a Waiver of Fees and Costs in the Settlement Agreement, Which Meant Fee Shifting Statute Allowed for Later Fee Motion. Here is a good one that reinforces an important lesson: when you settle, include a waiver of fees and costs in the settlement agreement. Without it, you may have
Municipal Ordinances Cannot Add Another Procedural Constraints on State Statutes. Proposition M, a San Francisco rent ordinance, added an attorney’s fees provision to the San Francisco Rent Ordinance mandating an award of fees to a prevailing tenant in an unlawful detainer case brought under state law except for one narrow exception. The First
Big Bankruptcies Result in Big Legal Fees for Debtor/Committee Counsel. As reported by Sheri Qualters in a February 21, 2011 post on The National Law Journal (on-line version), counsel representing debtors/trustee and unsecured creditor committees in big bankruptcy cases must be doing quite well financially. She reports that the fees for attorneys and
First District, Division 4 Finds Sanctions Proper Under CCP § 2023.030(a). We do not see that many e-discovery sanction cases at the state level, with most of the law being decided by federal courts–notwithstanding that the Evidence Code definition of “writing” does include electronic information. Here is one where a $13,500 discovery sanction
One of the Rare Cases Where Fees Assessed Against the Defense. Normally, when reporting on SLAPP fee awards, we are talking about awards to defendants under the mandatory fee-shifting statute in CCP § 425.16(c)(1). However, the ending part of that provision also allows a court to award mandatory fees to a plaintiff if
Article Highlights Possible Division on Contractual Claim Partial Dismissals Under Section 1717. Robert Freitas and Siddhartha Venkatesan, in a February 16, 2011 article entitled “Recovering Attorneys Fees” in The Recorder (e-newsletter available through Law.com), have written a nice, short article on recovering attorney’s fees under Civil Code section. Among under topics, they discuss fee
