Author name: Marc Alexander

Private Attorney General Statute: Center For Biological Diversity Decision Now Certified For Publication In Entirety.

Cases: Private Attorney General (CCP 1021.5), Cases: Reasonableness of Fees

     In our May 28, 2010 post, we reported on the decision of Center For Biological Diversity v. County of San Bernardino, a decision that was partially published but was not certified for publication on the discussion of a fee award under California’s private attorney general statute. We can now report that the entire decision […]

Deadlines And Fee Clause Interpretation: Second District, Division 6 Affirms $121,000 Fee/Cost Award In Neighborhood Mega-Squabble

Cases: Deadlines, Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation

  Fee Motion Found Timely and Declaratory Relief Action Was “On the Contract” for Purposes of Justifying the Award.      We knew that this next case was going to be a crazy one, when Acting Presiding Justice Yegan wrote, “Within a year or so, [the] relationship [between neighbors] had deteriorated from a warm friendship to

Section 1717: General Manager, Non-Owner Of Landlord Entity Entitled To Seek Recovery Of Attorney’s Fees In Lease Dispute

Cases: Section 1717

Second District, Division 2 Nixes Primary Trope Challenge On Appeal.      Here is an interesting one to add to the Trope jurisprudence, although it is unpublished in nature. The end result is that a general manager of a represented client likely is analogous to an in-house counsel lacking the personal interest to disqualify the manager’s

Expert Fees Under Fees Clause: Fourth District, Division 3 Rules They Are Recoverable Through Routine Costs Procedure

Cases: Costs, Cases: Fees as Damages

Appellate Panel Disagrees With “Pleading and Proof” Approach in Carwash.      Many attorney fees clauses have language that allows the prevailing party to recover both attorney’s fees and “witness and expert fees.” Although Code of Civil Procedure section 1033.5 does not permit expert witness fees to be recovered as statutory costs, case law does recognize

Fee Clause Interpretation: $278,323 Fee Award Remanded For Failure To Determine If Narrow Fee Clause Truly Covered Certain Pled Claims

Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation

Tort Claims Were Not Covered, Others Were, and Some Needed to be Revisited.      The Sixth District, in a scholarly unpublished 3-0 opinion authored by Acting Presiding Justice Bamattre-Manoukian, has a very thoughtful discussion of the breadth of a fees clause in a promissory note when plaintiffs prevailed on professional negligence and vendor’s lien claims,

Special Fee Shifting Statutes—Construction Prompt Payment: Fee Award To Contractor Under Prompt Payment Statutes Affirmed On Appeal

Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes

First District, Division 1 Sustains Fee Recovery of Over $381,000 Against Owners.      W. Wong Construction Co., Inc. v. Watt, Case Nos. A122409, A12327 & A124295 (1st Dist., Div. 1 June 18, 2010) (unpublished) is a case where a contractor obtained damages and a hefty $381,000-plus in attorney’s fees against owners under the construction prompt

Section 998: “First Impression” Unpublished Case—Plaintiff Can Defeat 998 Cost Shifting By Presenting Pre-Offer Costs In Opposition To Tax Costs Motion, Rather Than Claiming As Routine Costs Memorandum

Cases: Section 998

Fourth District, Division 2 Finds Plaintiff Can Defensively Block 998 Fee Shifting Outside the Costs Memorandum Decision, Even Though Undisclosed Costs Are Not Recoverable.      Boy, oh boy, in between the Lakers-Celtics game tonight, we have decided to blog on a very interesting unpublished decision from the Fourth District, Division 2, which itself admits involves

Civil Rights: Ninth Circuit Reverses District Judge’s Refusal To Award Fees And Costs In Nominal Jury Verdict Award Case

Cases: Civil Rights

Tangible Benefit Was Produced—San Diego Police Department Encouraged to Train Officers to Avoid Excessive Force.      The next decision from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is interesting. Though finding that the district judge got the law right, the majority in the decision still found that there was an abuse of discretion in refusing to

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