Wrapping It Up: M & M’s Top 25 Attorney’s Fees Decisions For 2011 Part 1 of 2 It is that time of year, at year end, for us to list our top published attorney’s fees decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and California Courts of Appeal. Although we normally […]
$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 Anderson v. AG Seal Beach, Case No. B228683 (2d Dist., Div. 7 Dec. 14, 2011) (unpublished) is a case where a successor won a $171,000 jury verdict for her mother’s alleged skilled nursing home injuries, even though the jury did not enter
Lower Court Properly Scaled Back Expert Fee Costs Award Against Plaintiff Based on Her Financial Situation. Hernandez v. The Regents of the University of California, Case Nos. A129427/A130063 (1st Dist., Div. 4 Dec. 12, 2011) (unpublished) involved some interesting fees and costs issues, especially given the shifting impact of Code of Civil Procedure
60% Reduction by Trial Court Dispatched Inefficiency/Padding/Overcharge Challenges. In Fuentes v. Autozone, Inc., Case No. B224034 (2d Dist., Div. 4 Nov. 16, 2011) (certified for partial publication; fee discussion unpublished), plaintiff won a $160,000 FEHA damages award, with the lower court subsequently awarding attorney’s fees of $677,025 under the fee-shifting statute. In doing
In Pro Per Restrictions Do Not Apply to Representation by One’s Spouse. A plaintiff prevailed on a civil rights claim and then sought recovery for work done by her attorney spouse and a co-counsel non-spouse. The district judge awarded plaintiff fees charged by co-counsel in the amount of $13,770 (out of a requested
She Lost Elder Abuse Claim by Plaintiff and Did Not Prevail on Her Frivolous FEHA Sexual Harassment Cross-claim. Bad facts can result in large jury verdicts; they also tend to guide the dispositon of the trial judge when it comes to awarding attorney’s fees against the non-prevailing litigant. That is what happened in
“Pocketbook” Was the Dispositive Factor in this One. In a FEHA lawsuit, a prevailing defendant is only entitled to an attorney’s fees award upon a finding that the action was frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation, with lower courts instructed to refrain from use of post hoc reasoning that translates a loss of the
Another Mortal Kombat Fatality Looming in Video Game Litigation? Fresh from killing the ban on children’s access to violent video games in California, the legal team advocating First Amendment rights for the video industry may taste more blood with a fee motion to the United States Supreme Court. The motion seeks $1,144,602.64 from California,
Suggestions for Maximizing Fee Recovery Under “But For” Standard Pertaining to Prevailing Public Entities in Civil Rights Cases In a July 22, 2011 post at PublicCEO.com, attorneys Gerry Knapton and Kim Karelis discuss the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision of Fox v. Vice, 2011 U.S. LEXIS 4182 (U.S. June 6, 2011), where a “but
First District, Division 4 Adds to State False Claims Act Fee Shifting Jurisprudence. In our June 6, 2011 post, we explored the Second District, Division 6’s recent decision in County of Kern v. Jadwin, where Justice Yegan on behalf of a unanimous panel discussed the California False Claims Act (“CFCA”) (explained, along with
