Lower Court Correctly Awarded Lodestar Fees And Properly Denied The Multiplier Request. The California Family Rights Act allows eligible employees to attend to family serious health conditions and bond with a newly born child. Government Code section 12965(b)(6) allows a trial judge discretion to award attorney’s fees to a prevailing plaintiff, much like the […]
Case-Within-Case Malpractice Principles Drove The Result. As our last post for 2021, we discuss fee recovery as damages in an interesting legal malpractice case, Thompson v. Flynn Riley Bailey & Pasek, LLP, Case No. A161238 (1st Dist., Div. 4 Dec. 30, 2021) (unpublished). What happened in this one was that borrowers received some
Year End-Wrap Up By Mike, Marc, And Shanna For Our Top 20 Decisions In 2021 Ronald Reagan Federal Courthouse, Santa Ana, California. Carol M. Highsmith, photographer. Between 1980 and 2006. Library of Congress. Part 2 of 2 – Third-Party Beneficiary Fee Clause Interpretation, Class Actions/Cy Pres Awards, Post-Judgment Fee Amounts, And Civil Rights/Employment Costs Dominated
Matter Remanded To Determine Scope Of Security Agreement. We commend that all attorneys, with respect to collection of fees, read Rice v. Downs, Case No. B307780 (2d Dist., Div. 1 Dec. 27, 2021) (partially published) where the Court of Appeal, with some remand limited instructions, did seem to validate a security agreement/ UCC-1 filing
Disqualification Based On Law Firm Registration Would Be Too Harsh. In Johnson v. Johnson, Case Nos. C090195/ C090522 (3d Dist. Dec. 27, 2021) (unpublished), trustee’s attorneys were awarded fees for beneficiaries making a bad faith contest of accountings. On appeal, the aggrieved parties argued that the fee award was improper because the law firm
Majority Author Affirms The Settlement, But—In A Concurrence—Writes It Is Time To Reconsider The Practice Of Cy Pres Awards. In In re Google Inc. Street View Electronic Communications Litig., Case No. 20-15616 (9th Cir. Dec. 27, 2021) (published), the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district judge’s approval of a settlement in a 60-million member class
Year End-Wrap Up By Mike, Marc, And Shanna For Our Top 20 Decisions In 2021 Courtroom One Marble, James R. Browning U.S. Court of Appeals Building, San Francisco, California. Carol M. Highsmith, photographer. 2009. Library of Congress. Part 1 of 2 – Section 998, Class Action, Prevailing Party/Fee Reasonableness, And Civil Rights/Employment Costs Dominated Our First
Consumer Arbitration Rules Concerning Prevailing Party Attorney Fees Do Apply In The Context Of An Attorney-Client Dispute. In Milder v. Holley, Case No. B299122 (2d Dist., Div. 5 December 16, 2021) (unpublished), client plaintiff initiated arbitration proceedings pursuant to an arbitration clause after a dispute arose between him and his attorney/her law firm. After
No Authority Entitling De Facto Trustees To Same Reimbursement Remedies As Designated Trustees. In Sonntag v. Franz, Case No. A161466 (1st Dist., Div. 1 December 16, 2021) (unpublished), defendant who temporarily acted as a de facto trustee sought attorneys’ fees and costs after successfully defeating breach of fiduciary duty claims brought by two
Sanctions and Vexatious Litigant Issues Not Foreclosed By A Settlement Or Dismissal Via Settlement/Judgment. In Marriage of Patel and Bhatia, Case No. B307926 (2d Dist., Div. 3 Dec. 14, 2021) (unpublished), an ex-husband was sanctioned for $5,000 under Family Code section 271 [designed to penalize litigants not trying to settle or multiplying proceedings in
