Cases: Allocation

Allocation/Fee Clause Interpretation/Section 1717/Reasonableness Of Fees: $158,000 Fee Award Is Result To Winning Defendants In Cremation Intermingling Dispute

Cases: Allocation, Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees, Cases: Section 1717

  No Apportionment of Fee Work Required Where Both Contract and Tort Claims Encompassed Within a Broad Fees Clause.      Above:  Beware the Jabberwock, my son!  Sir John Tenniel, illustrator.       Beware of the broadly worded fee clause, because it likely will give rise to fee entitlement no matter whether contract or tort theories are […]

Fees As Damages/Allocation: Fifth District Rules That Attorney’s Fees Expended To Clear Title Are Compensable Slander Of Title Damages Where Slander Contained In Recorded Instrument

Cases: Allocation, Cases: Fees as Damages

  Dicta in Decision May Be Broader, But No Apportionment Required.      For all of you real estate buffs out there, we report on the Fifth District’s 76-page decision in Sumner Hill Homeowners’ Assn. v. Rio Mesa Holdings, LLC, Case No. F058617 (5th Dist. Apr. 2, 2012) (certified for partial publication, slander of title fee

Allocation/Section 1717: Even Though Two Distinct Contracts Existed (With Only One Subject To A Fees Clause), All Fees Were Recoverable Because Work Related To Defensing The Nonrecoverable Oral Contract Claim Was Essential To Resolving The Recoverable Wri

Cases: Allocation, Cases: Section 1717

  No Allocation Required, Resulting in Affirmance of $318,469.82 Fee Award Where Jury Awarded Winner $71,443 In Compensatory Damages.     Rens Masonry, Inc. v. Luca Properties, Inc., Case No. D057698 (4th Dist., Div. 1 May 1, 2012) (unpublished) is an interesting decision which affirmed a $318,469.32 fee award to the winning plaintiff contractor after the

Allocation/Deeds Of Trust/Prevailing Party: Real Estate Seller Lienholders Did Prevail Ultimately In Judicial Foreclosure/Accounting Actions

Cases: Allocation, Cases: Deeds of Trust, Cases: Prevailing Party

  $332,697.80 Fee Award Resulted From Fee Clauses In Trust Deed/Promissory Note For 5 Year Old-Plus Litigation Over Sellers’ Carryback Loan.      Goradia v. Vega, Case No. B228128 (2d Dist., Div. 2 Mar. 5, 2012) (unpublished) again demonstrates that the “prevailing party” determination under Civil Code section 1717 is a pragmatic one, with trial and

Allocation/Civil Rights: $645,534 Attorney’s Fees Award To Successful FEHA Plaintiff Affirmed On Appeal

Cases: Allocation, Cases: Civil Rights

  Compensatory Award Was $560,709; 1.5 Fee Multiplier Also Justified.      In the FEHA civil rights area, the law is intentionally designed to confer reasonable attorney’s fees upon winning civil rights plaintiffs and only impose fees against them should the case be shown as frivolous/baseless in nature. The next case illustrates how substantial fee awards

Allocation/Interpretation Of Fees Clause: CC&R Nuisance Provision Allowed For Recoupment Of Over $600,000 In Attorney’s Fees And Costs

Cases: Allocation, Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation

  Allocation Not Necessary Where Same Facts And Evidence Involved On All Claims.      In Klein v. Nyamathi, Case No. B228157 (2d Dist., Div. 6 Jan. 25, 2012) (unpublished), defendants were found liable to the tune of just under $400,000 for flooding their plaintiff neighbors’ property under nuisance and breach of contract theories. The trial

Substantiation Of Reasonableness Of Fee Request: Defense Request For FEHA “Frivolousness” Fee Recovery Denied Because Of Block Billing

Cases: Allocation, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees

  Block Billing Vitiated Certainty of Defense Request for Allocated Fee Recovery.      We have many, many times before warned about the dangers of block billing. Under governing California law, block billing can result in draconian results when a trial court considers a fee request–it can disregard the billing in entirety or reduce the request

Allocation/Appellate Sanctions/Special Fee Shifting Statute: Fourth District, Division 3 Sanctions Plaintiffs’ Attorneys For CRC Appeals Violations And Losing Derivative Plaintiffs Are Hit With Substantial Fee Awards Under Civil Code Section 1717

Cases: Allocation, Cases: Appeal Sanctions, Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes

  Case #1: Appellate Sanctions Are Imposed.      In Alexandros v. Cole, Case No. G043715 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Dec. 30, 2011) (unpublished), plaintiffs lost a minority shareholder breach-of-fiduciary duty suit against various defendants and then lost their appeal. However, the appellate court also awarded $10,000 (out of a requested $30,000) in sanctions to defendants

Allocation/Civil Rights: Successor For Elderly Patient Entitled to Mandatory Fee Award In Suit Brought Under California’s Patient Bill Of Rights

Cases: Allocation, Cases: Civil Rights

  $305,000 Fee Award Sustained For Violation Even Though No Damages Awarded.      Anderson v. AG Seal Beach, Case No. B228683 (2d Dist., Div. 7 Dec. 14, 2011) (unpublished) is a case where a successor won a $171,000 jury verdict for her mother’s alleged skilled nursing home injuries, even though the jury did not enter

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