Author name: Marc Alexander

Private Attorney General Statute: Sixth District Issues Scholarly Unpublished Decision Analyzing CCP Section 1021.5 Factors

Cases: Private Attorney General (CCP 1021.5)

  Affirms $175,000 Fee Award Assessed Against City and Developer Jointly.      Court House Plaza Co. v. City of Palo Alto, Case Nos. H032872/H033204 (6th Dist. June 30, 2010) (unpublished) is a gem of a decision for anyone dealing with a fee award under California’s private attorney general statute, Code of Civil Procedure section 1021.5.  […]

Wrongful Pretrial Attachment Fee Shifting Provision: It Only Operates Against Party Causing A Wrongful Attachment

Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes

  $13,380.24 Fee Award Against Party Whose Property Was Attached Had to be Reversed.      In Hirsch v. Reed, Case Nos. C060631/C061956 (3d Dist. June 30, 2010) (unpublished), a trial court awarded attorney’s fees of $13,380.24 against a plaintiff losing an action for various torts found primarily barred by the litigation privilege. Plaintiff’s suit also

Civil Rights: Attorney’s Fees Recovery Denied To Plaintiff Dismissing Disability Claim Because Plaintiff Was Not A Prevailing Party Under “Catalyst Theory”

Cases: Civil Rights

  Lack of Prelitigation Demand for Corrective Action Was Damning.      Here is one for practitioners that either prosecute or defend disability accommodation claims, which frequently revolve around the attorney’s fees that can be recouped by their attorneys. Attorneys did not do so well in this case.      In Mundy v. Neal, Case No. B219711

Costs: First District, Division 5 Addresses Standards Governing Award of FEHA Expert Witness Costs To Winning Defendant

Cases: Civil Rights, Cases: Costs, Cases: Section 998

  Interaction of Code of Civil Procedure Section 998 Also Explored.      This next case is a very scholarly review of the standards governing an award of expert witnesses fees as costs to a winning defendant in a FEHA action. It is Holman v. Altana Pharma US, Inc., Case Nos. A122783/A124451 (1st Dist., Div. 5

Costs: Government Entity Entitled To Award Of Routine Costs, Even If Verification Does Not Exactly Track The Statute

Cases: Costs, Cases: Sanctions

  Government Entity Entitled to Filing Fees as Costs, and Supplemental Memorandum Was Appropriately Filed.      The Fourth District, Division 3, in a tandem pair of decisions authored by Acting Presiding Justice Rylaarsdam, have confronted when governmental entities are entitled to recover filing costs even when no judgment is entered and that a costs memorandum

Lender Trust Deeds And Beneficiary Payoff Demand Statute: Court Of Appeal Rules On Fee Recovery By Lender Against Nonassuming Debtor And By Debtor For Winning Payoff Beneficiary Demand Claim

Cases: Deeds of Trust, Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes

  Second District, Division 8 Affirms Fee Recovery Addition to Note/Trust Deed in Lender’s Favor, But Finds Debtor Shows No Fee Entitlement Authority for Winning Payoff Demand Count.      Here is a case for all of you banking/creditor attorneys arising out of an interesting lawsuit that produced somewhat splintered results. However, it demonstrates that fee

Probate: Common Fund Recovery Comes To The Rescue!

Cases: Equity, Cases: Probate

  Adversarial Beneficiary Losing the Fight May Be Held Responsible for Winner’s Attorney’s Fees.      Family feuds can be bitter, as the next case demonstrates. They also can result in being saddled with attorney’s fees depending how the trial court rules, given that some equitable doctrines like the common fund doctrine are very broad and

Section 998: Defendants Correctly Awarded Postoffer Costs

Cases: Section 998

Plaintiff Fails to Support 998 Reasonableness Challenge With Adequate Record.      The Fourth District, Division 2 in Kalogirou v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Case No. E049193 (4th Dist., Div. 2 June 28, 2010) (unpublished) affirmed an award of postoffer costs to defendants under Code of Civil Procedure section 998.

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