Second District, Division One Departs Company From Contrary Rutter Group Commentary. In People ex rel. City of Santa Monica v. Gabriel, Case No. B214828 (2d Dist., Div. 1 July 14, 2010) (certified for publication), a panel of the Second District departed from some Rutter Group treatise commentary, deciding that Business and Professions Code section […]
Second District, Division 2 Finds No Higher Award is Warranted. In Knik v. Marriott International, Inc., Case No. B220529 (2d Dist., Div. 2 July 14, 2010) (unpublished), plaintiff’s attorneys in a wage/hour class action obtained an award of $93,161 in attorney’s fees in a case where the gross settlement amount was $700,000. They wanted
Fourth District, Division One Reinforces that Consumer Statutes Are Not a Blank Attorney’s Fees Check. This next one is a lemon law case, arising under the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act with a mandatory fee-shifting provision. However, that fee-shifting statute only allows recovery of reasonable attorney’s fees to the prevailing party (Civ. Code, § 1794(d);
Second District, Division 8 So Rules. KL Trading Co. v. Dahan, Case No. B215182 (2d Dist., Div. 8 July 14, 2010) (unpublished) is a very pragmatic decision in the RFA fee shifting area. The problem is that plaintiff requested $ 56,956.25 in fees for proving certain RFAs not admitted in responses, despite any specific
Second District, Division 8 Sustains Family Law Commissioner Across the Board. Well, ex-husband in the next one—who lost an attempt to have custody of his children shifted from his ex-wife—was hit with an order directing him to pay past arrearages to wife for attorney’s fees awards as well as hit with an additional award
Appellants’ Attorneys Are Reprimanded or Face 6-Month Suspensions from Ninth Circuit Practice. Quite a lot of news was generated about a dismissed case brought by some Nicaraguan plaintiffs about Dow Chemical relating to use of DBCP on banana plantations in Nicaragua. Nicaraguan plaintiffs appealed, with an appointed special master finding that monetary sanctions
First District, Division Two Nixes $450,000-Plus Fee Request of Widow. Aside from the fact that it involved an arbitration between the survivors of music legend Jerry Garcia, we knew this one would be good when the arbitrator started out his decision denying attorney’s fees to the widow this way: “On the issue of
Beach Boys Ninth Circuit Memorandum Affirmance. Well, on this one, founding Beach Boy Mike Love appealed an award of attorney’s fees to Sanctuary Records Group after he lost a right to publicity dispute governed by English law that does not recognize such a right. In Love v. Sanctuary Records Group, Ltd., Case Nos. 08-55035/08-55973
D.C. Court of Appeals So Rules in Two Cases. Two and a half years ago, Congress enacted the Open Government Act, making it easier for plaintiffs to recover attorney’s fees in Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits. Prior to the new Act, only FOIA plaintiffs actually awarded relief could recover fees. However, the Open
Fourth District, Division 3 Emphatically Makes the Point. Roden v. Amerisourcebergen Corp., Case No. G041990 (4th Dist., Div. 3 July 8, 2010) (certified for publication) involved a plaintiff who was disappointed in being denied an award of attorney’s fees under a supplemental executive retirement plan (with ERISA implications) after prevailing on some aspects of
