Author name: Marc Alexander

Employment, In The News . . . . Attorney’s Fees Average More Than $405,000 Per Case And Average Settlement Is $1.2 Million In PAGA Cases

Cases: Employment, In The News

A Recent Study By CABIA So Concludes.             Under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), prevailing plaintiffs can obtain attorney’s fees for success on certain employment and workplace claims.  As reported in an OpEd article “Help business recovery, end PAGA” written by Ken Monroe in the July 18, 2021 edition of The Orange County Register, […]

Appealability, Lodestar, Partition, Substantiation Of Reasonableness Of Fees: Lower Court’s Award Of Fees To Winning Beneficiaries And Property Owner In Partition Action Was Affirmed On Appeal

Cases: Appealability, Cases: Lodestar, Cases: Partition, Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

Apportionment Under Partition Statutes Is Vested Within Lower Court’s Equitable Discretion.             In Hofmann v. Hofmann, Case No. F079977 (5th Dist. July 15, 2021) (unpublished), trustee son Michael was obviously not happy when he lost a partition action to trust beneficiaries (his siblings) and the current property owner.  Beneficiaries and property owner, respectively, filed attorney’s

Homeowner Associations: Champir Decision, Unpublished Earlier, Now Certified For Publication

Cases: Homeowner Associations

Homeowners Did Achieve Their Pragmatic Objective, So Davis-Stirling Fees Were Justified.          In Champir v. Fairbanks Ranch Assn., Case No. D077384 (4th Dist., Div. 1 June 22, 2021) (unpublished), which we reviewed when it was unpublished in our June 29, 2021 post, homeowners received a substantial fee award for prevailing against HOA under a Davis-Stirling Act fee

Fees As Damages: Denial Of Defendant’s Cross-Complaint Claim For Attorney’s Fees As Damages, Based On Trial Court’s Belief That It Was Constrained Under Copenbarger From Exercising Its Discretion, Reversed And Remanded For Retrial

Cases: Fees as Damages

The Trial Court Misunderstood The Scope Of Its Own Discretion Where It Was In The Middle Of An Active Trial And Could Have Ordered Unredacted Copies Of The Attorney’s Bills To Be Provided And Allowed Time For Opposing Parties To Depose Attorney.             When the owner of an apartment building was sued for breach of

Employment, In The News . . . . Attorney’s Fees Average More Than $405,000 Per Case And Average Settlement Is $1.2 Million In PAGA Cases

Cases: Employment, In The News

A Recent Study By CABIA So Concludes.             Under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), prevailing plaintiffs can obtain attorney’s fees for success on certain employment and workplace claims.  As reported in an OpEd article “Help business recovery, end PAGA” written by Ken Monroe in the July 18, 2021 edition of The Orange County Register,

Appealability, Costs, Discovery: Denial Of $1.1 Million For Electronic Discovery Costs Reversed Because Lower Court Seemed To Indicate No Discretion On Awarding Them

Cases: Appealability, Cases: Costs, Cases: Discovery

Modern Trend Is To Recognize E-Discovery Recoupment Costs As Long As They Are Justified.             Ya know, times change, technology changes, and jurisprudence changes.  Although unpublished, City of Los Angeles v. PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, Case No. B305583 (2d Dist., Div. 5 July 8, 2021) (unpublished) shows how electronic discovery costs may be awardable, if justified, based

Probate: Beneficiary Successfully Defeating Settlement Agreement Based On Subject Matter Jurisdiction Argument Improperly Denied A Request For Fees

Cases: Probate

Any Argument Was Circular—Subject Matter Jurisdiction Win Did Not Mean Fee Request Evaporated, So A Remand Was In Order.             A beneficiary won a successful defense to a trustee’s effort to enforce a settlement agreement on the basis that the probate court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to enforce that agreement, but the beneficiary was denied

Employment: Denial Of Multiplier In Single-Plaintiff FEHA Case, Simply Based On One Plaintiff Case, Was An Abuse Of Discretion

Cases: Employment

Remand Was Required.             In Guerrero v. Crown Energy Services, Inc., Case Nos. D076299/D077201 (4th Dist., Div. 1 July 7, 2021) (unpublished), a single FEHA plaintiff won a compensatory damage verdict of $207,855.60 and a punitive damage verdict of $900,000 against defendants.  Plaintiff moved for $553,835 in lodestar fees enhanced by a 2.0 positive multiplier,

Homeowner Associations, Mediation: $318,426 Fee Award To HOA Prevailing On Encroachment Issue Was No Abuse Of Discretion

Cases: Homeowner Associations, Cases: Mediation

Parties’ Inability To Mediate Was A Discretionary Factor To Weigh In The Fee Calculus.             HOA, in Country Glen Oak Park Homeowners Assn. v. Garrett, Case No. B303220 (2d Dist., Div. 6 July 6, 2021) (unpublished), won a case to require removal of a pool equipment encroachment by homeowners as well as $820 in compensatory

Section 998: Defendants’ Section 998 Offer Requesting Indemnification (And, Implicitly, Defense) Of Unspecified Non-Parties Made The Offer Too Vague For Enforcement

Cases: Section 998

That Conclusion Erased $5,360 Expert Witness Fees Award Against Plaintiffs And In Favor Of Defendants.             In Khosravan v. Chevron Corp., Case No. B307482 (2d Dist., Div. 7 July 6, 2021) (published), the Chevron Defendants won a summary judgment against plaintiffs after sending an unaccepted CCP §998 offer to dismiss for a waiver of costs

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