Author name: Marc Alexander

Reversal and Remand of Damage Award Likely Means that Fee Award Under a 998 Offer Also Gets Reversed

Cases: Section 998, Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes

Fourth District, Division One Does Just That In Consumer Legal Remedies Act/Song-Beverly Act Case.             The Song-Beverly Act, Civil Code section 1790 et seq., is a legislatively-crafted scheme to protect consumers buying certain personal goods from defects and providing replacement/repair directives under certain conditions.  Section 1794(d) of the Song-Beverly Act provides for […]

Lower Court Erroneously Awarded Default and Then Prevailing Party Status to Plaintiff Where Defendant Failed to Appear for Trial

Cases: Prevailing Party, Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes

Fourth District, Division Three Reverses $2,700 Fee Award As Without Basis.             The next case arose from a rather bizarre set of facts, showing fee awards will be withheld if the fee is awarded as an unwarranted penalty in the guise of a statutory fee award.             This legal

Accept Payment of a Distinct Award—And Lose Your Appeal Right!

Cases: Appealability

Fourth District, Division One Holds Acceptance of Payment of a Standalone Fee Order Waived the Right to Appeal.             The next case deals with the principle holding that voluntary acceptance of benefits will sometimes waive the right to appeal.  The context was a fee motion winner accepting payment from the loser, but

Block Billing: Commentators Disapprove the Practice and Courts Have Wide Discretion in Disregarding Block Billed Entries Altogether or Reducing by a Reasonable Percentage

Cases: Billing Record Substantiation, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees, Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

State Courts Have Wide Discretion, While Federal Courts Usually Reduce By a Trial Court-Assigned Percentage.             Block billing is the practice of assigning a one-time charge to multiple tasks.  An example looks like this:  “June 10, 2008:  Telephone conferences with client, retained expert, and opposing counsel; legal research; meeting with expert and

Breaking News: Supreme Court Denies Review of Harman v. City and County of San Francisco

Cases: Civil Rights, Cases: Lodestar, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees, Cases: Standard of Review, Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

Denial of Writ of Certiorari Leaves Court of Appeal Opinion – and Fee Award — Intact.             On June 23, 2008, the Supreme Court of the United States denied the petition for writ of certiorari for San Francisco v Harman, Allen.  —S.Ct.—, 2008 WL 1955817 (U.S. Cal.), 76 USLW 3611.      

PLAINTIFF’S ASSIGNEE—A NONSIGNATORY TO A CONTRACT—AND ASSIGNOR—A CONTRACT SIGNATORY—BOTH HIT WITH $1.4 MILLION FEE AWARD AFTER DEFENDANT PREVAILS IN ASSIGNEE’S LITIGATION

Cases: Appealability, Cases: Assignment, Cases: Prevailing Party, Cases: Standard of Review

Second District Affirms Fee Award Against Both Assignor and Assignee Based on California Wholesale and the Assignor’s Surety Status.             One of the time-honored principles in assignment law is that assignee’s voluntary acceptance of benefits normally means consent to bear the burdens from the assignment.  Civil Code sec. 1589.   However, the assignor

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