Fourth District, Division 1 Sustains Award of Referee’s Costs to Prevailing Party. In Behne v. Chodur, Case Nos. D052416/D053551 (Sept. 24, 2009) (unpublished), a brother and sister unfortunately got into a partnership damages/accounting donnybrook. An accounting referee was appointed by the court to determine the net proceeds of several real estate projects involved […]
Second District, Division 1 Affirms Fee Award to Broker Under Broadly Worded CAR Form Agreement. Under Santisas v. Goodin, 17 Cal.4th 599 (1998), a voluntary dismissal will end fee exposure on contract claims. However, there is a hitch (usually is). The dismissal will not necessarily insulate against fee exposure for tort or noncontract claims.
Second District, Division 7 Upholds Attorney Lien Priority in Unpublished Decision. For those of you needing a primer on how potent attorney’s charging liens can be, we refers you to the recent unpublished decision in Johnson v. Jones, Case No. B208858 (2d Dist., Div. 7 Sept. 24, 2009) (unpublished). There, a judgment creditor
Fifth District Reversed, Finding Mandatory Sanction Was In Order. O.K., readers, go to our category “Requests for Admission” for a primer on when fees can be awarded for sanctions when a party fails to admit the truth of RFAs. (Code Civ. Proc., sec. 2033.420(a)-(b).) Now, we have a reversal of a trial court ruling
Published Decision Is Must Reading For All Litigators Engaged in Discovery Disputes. We knew that we would enjoy the next decision, because it analogizes discovery disputes to the imagery of Hotspur (Henry Percy)—who is graphically depicted in Shakespeare’s Henry IV as being blinded by a combative nature and incapable of informally resolving a disagreement
The Orange County Register Obtains Final Numbers from City of Irvine. We have reported in past posts—see our July 1 and August 22, 2009 posts–about Great Park board members Christina Shea and Steven Choi’s lawsuit to obtain documents about the search for a Great Park CEO. The final attorney’s fees tab is in!
First District, Division 5 So Holds in Unpublished Decision. Plaintiff had his malicious prosecution action stricken through a SLAPP motion, a ruling that was appealed. After obtaining a dismissal of the appeal because it was untimely filed, defendants filed a motion to obtain appellate fees for successfully defending the SLAPP ruling on appeal.
Sixth District Looks At All the Relevant Circumstances Under Family Code Section 2030. Although we might think that this next lesson would be self evident, “litigating just to litigate” may get you into trouble. It also may have a spillover effect as far as influencing trial and appellate courts’ thought processes when it
Ninth Circuit Reverses Denial of Fees Award, Remanding for A New Look in COGSA, Bill of Lading Case. So what happens when you have a seemingly statutory choice-of-law clause (that means no attorney’s fees) and a contractual clause (that may mean attorney’s fees) in the same case? Well, if you are the litigant
Horse Trail Blocking Incident Draws Criminal Sentence As Well As Fee Assessment. Yorba Linda couple Todd and Deborah Kopit were in the local Orange County news after being found guilty of blocking a horse trail behind their home. The Kopits had claimed that the wooden gates were necessary to protect their property. The
