Defense Lost Two 128.7 Prior Sanctions Requests, But Got It On The Third Try, Doing Some Nice Things As Far As Amount Requested. Dzhanikyan v. Liberty Mutual Ins. Co., Case No. B261113 (2d Dist., Div. 8 June 15, 2016) (unpublished) is a nice illustration of how good defense thinking and tenacity can produce […]
Case Was Deemed Complex, With Plaintiff’s Attorneys Displaying Dexterity Along The Way. In Gonzales v. City of San Jose, Case No. 5:13-cv-00695-BLF (N.D. Cal. May 26, 2016, Doc. 244), U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman awarded plaintiff recovering $10,000 in an eve-of-trial settlement of a complex civil rights case—where a mother was arrested
No Showing Of Bad Faith In Labor Commissioner’s Position on Employment Issue. In Happy Nails & Spa of Fashion Valley v. California Labor Commissioner, Case No. D067391 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Apr. 25, 2016) (unpublished), a plaintiff ultimately prevailing on an employee/independent contractor classification issue sought to recover attorney’s fees from the Labor
Requested Amount By Plaintiff’s Attorney Was $2.9 Million. On April 8, 2016, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mark Mooney determined that Bikram Choudhury, a well known yoga pioneer, owed $1.1 million in attorney’s fees after a jury found that he was liable for $7.4 million on claims he wrongfully terminated and sexually
Case Tells Government Entities To Beware When They Aggressively Litigate And Lose In Pro-Civil Rights Fee Shifting Cases. The next case is one that litigators representing governmental entities need to pay attention to. Often times, government will aggressively litigate until the end, only to tell the appellate court that fees to a successful
$1.367 Million Expenditures Over Thirty Years On Public Areas, With $13.3 Million In Fees And $1.7 Million To Class Counsel. On February 9, 2016, U.S. District Judge Consuelo B. Marshall of the Central District of California gave preliminary approval to a substantial American with Disabilities Act class action settlement by which the City
Failure to File Separate Motion for Recovery of Expert Witness Fees Not Damning. In Baez v. Burbank Unified School Dist., Case No. B254852 (2d Dist., Div. 7 Jan. 25, 2016) (unpublished), plaintiff finally won on FEHA claims after a third trial following a couple of earlier appellate hiccups. Plaintiff won $179,398 in compensatory
Williams Is Found To Be Retroactive To Cases Pending On Appeal. Plaintiff lost FEHA/non-FEHA claims, both found to be interrelated, through a summary judgment motion. After that, the trial judge found the case to be meritless, awarding defendants a modest fee award of $15,000 after considering plaintiff’s ability to pay (with the defense
Simply Because Plaintiff Only Obtained $1 In Damages Did Not Diminish His Forward-Looking Conduct Success In The Case. In Klein v. City of Laguna Beach, No. 13-56973 (9th Cir. Jan. 14, 2016) (published), plaintiff brought an as-applied civil rights challenge to Laguna Beach’s ordinance containing restrictions on the use of amplification devices on
Court of Appeal Applies Ninth Circuit’s Gates And Moreno Decisions. Getting a haircut. Camp Shelby. 1941. William Perlitch, photographer. Library of Congress. Kerkeles v. City of San Jose, Case No. H040915 (6th Dist. Dec. 18, 2015) (published) is a significant 2015 end-of-the year decision, where an appellate court adopted the Ninth Circuit’s
