No Different Result. On our September 2, 2009 post, we reported on the Burlage decision, which reversed confirmation of a substantial arbitration decision (complete with the overturning of a large fee award). We can now report that, on October 20, 2009, the Second District, Division 6, issued an opinion on rehearing that came to […]
First District, Division 5 Affirms Judgment Against LLC Managing Member. LLC managing member signed a retainer letter with an affiliated management company and paid litigation attorneys through checks drawn on dba accounts, before deciding to terminate the attorneys having a sizable receivable. After a lot of procedural and lower court tussles, attorneys finally
Two Appellate Courts Show That Fees May Rise and Fall With Later Dispositions. Arbitration—Burlage v. Superior Court, Case No. B211431 (2d Dist., Div. 6 Aug. 31, 2009) (certified for publication) This case is going to attract attention, because Presiding Justice Gilbert (author of a 2-1 majority opinion) has taken on the principle that Moncharch
Second District, Division Three Has Difference in Opinion on Impact of Unopposed Petition to Vacate Arbitration Award. Here is an interesting one for you. Clients soundly beat their former attorneys in a contractual arbitration: attorneys sought to recover $604,113.43 in fees for services rendered, while the arbitrator only awarded them $34,196.60—“a fraction of the
Second District, Division One, Does Remand For Proper Expense/Fee Determination and For Examination of Allocation Issues. Armendariz v. Foundation Health Psychcare, 24 Cal.4th 83, 110-113 (2000) determined that arbitral expenses beyond what a plaintiff litigant would have borne in a court case cannot be imposed in cases involving statutory rights enacted for a public
Second District, Division Three, Reminds Us Simple Mistake of Law or Fact is Not Necessarily in Excess of an Arbitrator’s Powers. Frederick Lax, former President and CEO of Tekelec, brought an arbitration proceeding against Tekelec, seeking compensation for options that were lost when Tekelec did not issue necessary financial statements until after the options
Court of Appeal Notes that Strict Limitations of CCP 1286 are Seldom Acknowledged in Case Law, But Does Acknowledge Those Limitations This Time. On February 18, 2009, we did a post on Karton v. Dougherty, a case in which a $1,146,578.38 default judgment with interest of $159,679.92 in favor of Beverly Hills attorney David
First District, Division 4 Follow Acosta-Otay Line of Cases. There has been quite a splash of jurisprudence lately on the question of when a prevailing party can be adjudged in mixed legal-arbitration proceedings. The next case is the latest addition to the case law on this subject. In Turner v. Schultz, Case Nos.
In our June 2, 2009 post, we discussed the then-unpublished decision of Fagelbaum & Heller LLP v. Smylie, Case No. B205181 (2d Dist., Div. 8), where former attorneys of a client reaped a substantial damage award based on breach of an engagement letter, obtained an adjudication that the client had waived MFAA arbitration rights,
Arbitrator Enhances Plaintiff’s Lodestar by 3.0 Multiplier. We give thanks to Cal Biz Lit, who in his June 16, 2009 post described a “prove-up” arbitration award of $4.1 billion stemming from a very unusual lost commission dispute. He notes that the award was confirmed as a judgment by the Los Angeles County Superior Court
