Author name: Marc Alexander

Retainer Agreements/Ethics: Business & Prof. Code, § 6147 Requirements Apply To Hybrid Contingency Agreements Involving Transactional Work

Cases: Ethics, Cases: Retainer Agreements

Second District, Division 4 Faces Issues of First Impression Under § 6147.      Justice Manella, speaking for a 3-0 panel of the Second District, Divison 4, faced some first impression legal issues with respect to the reach of Business and Professions Code section 6147’s requirements over certain hybrid contingency agreements. In particular, the appellate court […]

Special Fee Shifting Statute: Newspaper Petitioner Gaining Redacted And Then Unredacrted Documents Under California Public Records Act Denied Fee Award

Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes

  Third District Finds Good Faith of Agency in Releasing Redacted Documents Expeditiously Militated Against Award.      California Public Records Act, Government Code section 6259, mandates attorney’s fees to a “prevailing” petitioner. However, even though the law is clear, the next case demonstrates that many (if not most) cases are factually dependent, with the circumstances

Arbitration: Failure To Petition Trial Court Or Arbitrator For Amendment Of Award For Inclusion of Attorney’s Fees Justified Denial Of Fees

Cases: Arbitration

Brokers Were Also Not Parties to Purchase Agreement With Fees Clause.      In Anter v. Pitts & Bachmann Realtors, Case No. B213519 (2d Dist., Div. 6 Nov. 23, 2010) (unpublished), residential property purchaser won a substantial $2.54 million arbitration award, jointly and severally, against sellers as well as sellers’ sales agent and broker. However, the

Off Topic: Bad Time To Be In Law School

Off Topics

Price and Job Prospects Are Real Negatives, At This Time.      The November 13, 2010 edition of The Economist has an interesting article entitled “Trouble with the law.” Unfortunately, it tracks the struggling economic times and provides some interesting statistics and insights for law school graduates.      *Between 1996 and 2008, private law schools’ median

Homeowner’s Associations And SLAPP: Judgment And Fee Awards Correctly Awarded Against Homeowner Trustee As An Individual

Cases: Homeowner Associations, Cases: SLAPP

Fourth District, Division 1 Sees No Error in Individual Assessment.      In San Diego Country Estates Assn., Inc. v. Ward, Case No. D055182 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Nov. 22, 2010) (unpublished), an HOA and homeowner (a trustee of his revocable inter vivos trust) got embroiled in a retaining wall construction dispute in which trustee was

In The News . . . . Will Ferrell And Larry David Hit With $600,000 Adverse Fee Award In Lost Securities Arbitration

Cases: Celebrities, In The News

Two Claimants Also Held Liable for $22,500 in “Discovery Abuses.”      Larry Hagman, who played the infamous J.R. on the T.V. show Dallas, sued Citigroup for securities trading claims, garnering an award of $1.1 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages to be donated to charities of his choice.      Other actors

In The News . . . . MiraCosta Attorney’s Fees Battle Will Heat Up, Trash Hauling Company Will Pay Los Alamitos’ Attorney’s Fees In Pending Case, And Some Pre-Thanksgiving Humor

In The News

MiraCosta College to Contest Fee Motion in Ex-President Settlement Challenge Suit.      In our October 15, 2010 post, we reported on a lawsuit in which MiraCosta College’s settlement with ex-president Victoria Richart was successfully challenged, with the plaintiff now moving to recoup $423,205 in attorney’s fees. Now, Mr. Sisson in a follow-up November 16, 2010

Private Attorney General Statute: First District, Division 5 Finds It Can Resolve Significant Benefit Issue Itself But That Other Issues Need To Be Remanded For Resolution

Cases: Private Attorney General (CCP 1021.5)

  $6 Million Fee Award Will Be Reassessed.       For all of your folks involved in public interest cases, the next decision is a good one to review in the private attorney general fee area.      Environmental Protection Information Center v. California Dept. of Forestry and Fire Protection, Case Nos. A108410/A108478 (1st Dist., Div. 5

Indemnity: Settling Buyer, Who Obtained Assignment Of Sellers’ Claims Against Sellers’ Brokers, Could Not Obtain Recovery Of Seller’s Attorney’s Fees

Cases: Indemnity

  Third District Agrees With Lower Court that Breach of Fiduciary Duty/Implied Indemnity Claims Do Not Cover Fees.      Here is an interesting one that is a follow-up of sorts to Lange v. Schilling, 163 Cal.App.4th 1412 (2008), in which winning buyer in real estate fraud/negligence case was disqualified from obtaining attorney’s fees because he

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