Author name: Marc Alexander

Prevailing Party And Costs: Voluntary Dismissal Of Prior Action Did Not Give Rise To Fees, But Did Give Rise To Costs, When There Was On-Going Litigation Between Parties

Cases: Costs, Cases: Prevailing Party

Second District, Division Four Reversed Costs Denial, Affirmed Fees Denial.      The next case shows that courts pragmatically gauge prevailing party status when in comes to fees and costs awards—costs may be mandatory upon a voluntary dismissal, but not necessarily an award of attorney’s fees in the same circumstance (with the fees award being the […]

Settlement Stipulation: Stipulation To Arbitrate Clearly Waived Right To Appeal Arbitrator’s Award

Cases: Arbitration, Cases: Settlement

  Fourth District, Division 3 Honors Stipulation By Its Terms on Forfeiture of Appellate Rights.      Appellate courts will enforce the bargains struck between parties, even when they involve waivers of fundamental rights (such as the right to appeal). That happened in the next case we discuss.      In Fridman v. Beach Crest Villas Homeowners

Homeowners Associations And Section 1717: Homeowner Demonstrating Inapplicability of CC&Rs Entitled To Fee Award Under Civil Code Section 1717

Cases: Homeowner Associations, Cases: Section 1717

Reciprocity Principle Underlying Section 1717 Required Reversal of Fee Denial.      Here is a decision emphasizing that Civil Code section 1717 reciprocity principles will prevail, even where a successful litigant shows that the contract (in this case, CC&Rs) was inapplicable. The fees clause had to be construed as mutual in nature. The lower court did

Family Law: Well-Heeled Ex-Wife Does Not Recoup Requested $692,000 In Attorney’s Fees For Document Sealing Battles In Marital Dispute

Cases: Family Law

  Second District, Division 8 Affirms Trial Court’s Conclusion That Fees Not Justified Under “Needs Based” Family Code Section 2030.      Ex-wife, whose resources were in the eight figures (given that ex-husband was wealthy based on his ownership interest in a private held Delaware corporation), sought to recoup $692,000 in attorney’s fees for efforts in

Costs and 998 Expert Witness Fees: Court Of Appeal Affirms Most Of Trial Court Decision Awarding Routine Costs, Denying Expert Witness Fees, and Denying Attorney’s Fees

Cases: Appeal Sanctions, Cases: Costs, Cases: Experts, Cases: Sanctions, Cases: Section 1717, Cases: Section 998

First District, Division 5, Except for a $49 Adjustment, Tells Everyone to Go Home But For a Minor $1,000 Appellate Sanctions.      Salvio Street, LLC v. Lee, Case Nos. A122408/A123080 (1st Dist., Div. 5 July 29, 2010) (unpublished) is an interesting case, not just for the legal issues, but because it demonstrates how pragmatic appellate

Prevailing Party: Orange County Lawyer Article Discusses Middle Ground To English And American Rules On Fee Shifting

Cases: Insurance, Cases: Prevailing Party

  After the Event or Legal Expense Insurance Is the Middle Ground Discussed.     Kevin Martin, founder and CEO of Sonoma Risk Insurance Agency, has written an interesting article, aptly entitled “Leveling the Playing Field in Contract Disputes,” in the August 2010 edition of The Orange County Lawyer.      In some statistics directly relevant to

In The News . . . . Treasury Department May Give Write-Off Relief to Gross Contingency Attorneys and Orly Taitz Has A Busy “Birther” Summer

Uncategorized

  $1.6 Billion Tax Write-offs At Issue Over 10 Year Period.      In Boccardo v. Commissioner, 56 F.3d 1016 (9th Cir. 1995), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that lawyers who represent clients in “gross fee” contingency fee cases—those situations where the lawyer pays off all the expenses and the lawyer and client later

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