Fourth District, Division 3 Uniformly Reverses One Award, But Splinters On Overturning Another Fee Award. Here is a very interesting family law decision involving two fee awards, drawing both uniformity and conflict from our own Fourth District, Division 3. The case is Marriage of Reddi, Case No. G040864 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Dec. […]
$121,848.16 Compensation Award to Intervener Upheld on Appeal. In a very scholarly opinion, Presiding Justice Mallano—on behalf of a 3-0 panel—upheld a $121,848.16 compensation award (including attorney’s fees) to a consumer interest intervener in an unsuccessful challenge to certain amended regulations made by insurance companies. The basis for the award was Insurance Code section
Part 2 of 2: Second Ten Grouping—Nos. 1-10. We already gave you our top 11-20 decisions previously this month. As noted in an earlier post, we have accumulated our “top 20” attorney’s fees decisions, recognizing that we limit the list to published decisions and that the order reflects nothing about the importance of
Second District, Division 3 Distinguishes Other Costs Apportionment Decisions. In Fennessy v. DeLeuw-Cather Corp., 218 Cal.App.3d 1192 (1990), the appellate court held that when a prevailing party incurs costs jointly with other parties who remain in the litigation and seeks recovery of costs during the pendency of the litigation, that party may recover only
Appellate Court Found No Abuse of Discretion, With Failure to Provide Transcript of Fee Motion Sealing Amount of the Award. In Marriage of Nair, Case No. C059661 (3d Dist. Dec. 29, 2009) (unpublished), the Third District found that the family law court did not abuse its discretion by awarding attorney’s fees of $75,000 to
Warburton Decision is a Companion to our December 28 Post on Lake v. Griffin, But in Inverse Fashion. In our December 28, 2009 post, we reviewed Lake v. Griffin, where the Fourth District, Division 1 held that a denial of a motion to compel arbitration in an ongoing case was not a "discrete proceeding"
Conduct Was Also Protected Under Civil Code Section 47 Litigation Privilege. The First District, Division 5, in Beheshti v. Bartley, Case No. A122128 (1st Dist., Div. 5 Dec. 29, 2009) (unpublished), confronted a situation where an attorney was sued for intentional interference, conversion, and intentional/negligent infliction of emotional distress for pursuing his contractual attorney
Fourth District, Division 1 Reverses Fee Award in Case Involving Reggie Bush … And Clarifies Otay River Constructors in the Process. Here is one for all of you U.S.C. alumni or fans, involving civil litigation that impacts former collegiate football great Reggie Bush. The decision shows how the procedural context of a case can
Part 1 of 2: First Ten Grouping—Nos. 11-20. As noted in an earlier post, we have accumulated our “top 20” attorney’s fees decisions, recognizing that we limit the list to published decisions and that the order reflects nothing about the importance of the decision. Rather, we try to survey decisions of interest in different
District’s Entire Yearly Budget is Just $222,304 For 2009. We have reported on the sting that attorney’s fees award can bring to litigants. Unfortunately, this can also sting public agencies with shrinking or fairly small budgets. As reported by Teri Sforza in her December 22, 2009 post “Will Silverado-Modjeska go bankrupt paying developer’s
