Cases: Civil Rights

Civil Rights FEHA/Family Law/Special Agricultural Fee Shifting Statute/Trespass Dominate Unpublished Decisions For January 15, 2014

Cases: Civil Rights, Cases: Family Law, Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes, Cases: Trespass

  Civil Rights FEHA: Chiang v. County of Los Angeles, Case No. B238948 (2d Dist., Div. 1 Jan. 15, 2014) (Unpublished).      County won summary judgment but appealed the lower court’s refusal to award it requested attorney’s fees of $324,098.80 as the prevailing party. The appellate court affirmed the conclusion that fees are not guided […]

Civil Rights/Multiplier: $680,520 Fee Award Under FEHA Affirmed On Appeal Even Though Winning Civil Rights Plaintiff Only Won $150,000 In Damages

Cases: Civil Rights, Cases: Multipliers

  No Statement of Decision Required, and Not Requested—No Fee Award Error.      This one has quite a lot of permutations for everyone to consider. On the merits, in a first impression case, the appellate held that a defective special verdict is reviewed under a harmless error analysis. However, it also has some nice themes

Civil Rights: Ninth Circuit Sustains Most Of District Judge’s Decision To Award Civil Rights Plaintiff, Who Only Had Limited Success On Gender Discrimination Claim, $697,971.80 In Fees Where $27,280 Recouped In Damages

Cases: Civil Rights

  Paralegal Fee Award Was Remanded Based on Consideration of Hearsay Evidence; 10% Lodestar Reduction for Inflated Hours Was No Abuse of Discretion.      Plaintiff won a gender discrimination claim against UPS, after losing other claims, under California’s state FEHA statute, which has a pro-plaintiff fee shifting claim. Plaintiff then requested FEHA claims in the

Civil Rights: Plaintiffs Successfully Challenging Anti-Gang Injunction Have Substantial Fee Award Of Over $3.2 Million Affirmed

Cases: Civil Rights

  Ninth Circuit Did Say That Fee Award Exposure to Orange County District Attorney T-Rack Might Need To Be Reassessed.      Vasquez v. Rackauckas, Case No. 11-55795 (9th Cir. Nov. 5, 2013) (published) is an interesting civil rights case in which an anti-gang injunction under California’s general public nuisance statutes was successfully challenged by four

Civil Rights/Multiplier: FEHA Plaintiff Winning $470,000 Compensatory Damages Properly Awarded Prevailing Party Fees Of $431,884.25

Cases: Civil Rights, Cases: Multipliers

  1.33 Multiplier Was Justified.      Plaintiff in Pena v. Central Freight Lines, Case Nos. A134753/A138014 (1st Dist., Div. 3 Oct. 4, 2013) (unpublished) won $470,000 in economic/noneconomic damages after a bench trial, with the lower court subsequently awarding $431,884.25 in fees under the FEHA fee-shifting statute–including a 1.33 multiplier, despite plaintiff requesting fees of

Civil Rights: Civil Rights Plaintiffs Winning Some Claims To The Tune Of $128,230 In Damages Garnered Fees Of $1,283,629.18–Ten-Fold Increase

Cases: Civil Rights

  Court Rejects Needless Markup:  1.1 Multiplier Used, But Rejected $1,623,087 Lodestar/2.0 Multiplier Fees Request.      In civil rights cases, winning plaintiffs have liberally-oriented fee shifting statutes in play which can result in exponential fee awards as compared to fairly modest damages recoveries–that is how the statutory schemes at both federal and state levels operate.

Civil Rights: 80% Reduction In Requested Fees To Civil Rights Winner Was Not Reduced Any More

Cases: Civil Rights

  Plaintiff’s Appeal of the 80% Cut Denied Earlier; Defendant’s Appeal for a Further- Still Reduction Rejected.      Above:  Haircut.  Japanese army.  c1905.  Library of Congress.      Henderson v. Carter, Case No. B243220 (2d Dist., Div. 5 Sept. 11, 2013) (unpublished) is a follow-up to a prior unsuccessful appeal by a winning civil rights plaintiff

Civil Rights/Reasonableness Of Fees: Ninth Circuit Reverses $473,138.24 Fee Award To Civil Rights Winners In Settlement Where $500,000 Was Stipulated Damages Figure

Cases: Civil Rights, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees

  District Judge Must Explain Cuts With Specificity, Showing Math With Transparency And Not Capping Based on Compensatory Damages Amount.      Gonzalez v. City of Maywood, Case No. 11-56594 (9th Cir. Sept. 9, 2013) (for publication) is must reading for civil rights practitioners filling fee petitions. However, it also has valuable lessons for attorneys involved

Civil Rights: Trial Court’s $143,861.87 Fee Award To Winning Civil Rights Plaintiff Sustained Even Though She Won Damages Of $22,625

Cases: Civil Rights

  Trial Court Made Proper Allocation, and Chavez Was Dispositive Case Law.      Defendants appealed a trial court’s award of $143,861.87 in attorney’s fees to a plaintiff winning $22,625 on sexual harassment, assault and battery claims after a bench trial, even though plaintiff lost other claims and plaintiff’s fees were three times more that the

Civil Rights/Reasonableness Of Fees: FEHA Winning $1 In Damages Won $349,313.74 In Attorney’s Fees And $11,952.94 Under FEHA Fee-Shifting Statute

Cases: Civil Rights, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees

  Appellate Court Found Trial Court Did Not Abuse Discretion in Awarding Fee Award 600 Times the Damages Award.      Government Code section 12965(b) is a special fee-shifting provision which especially allows attorney’s fees and costs to be awarded to winning FEHA plaintiffs. Strict proportionality is not necessary between damages and fees awarded, with the

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