But Outcome in Three Recent Cases Sends Only a Little Chill, as California Courts Rebuff Defendants’ Attempts. Dan Levine reports in The Recorder on three recent efforts by successful defendants in civil rights cases to collect attorney’s fees from losing plaintiffs. Plaintiffs who sued the Metropolitan Transportation Commission challenging San Francisco Bay […]
Third Circuit Court of Appeals So Holds Under 42 U.S. C. Section 1988; California State Court Decisions Split In Analogous Areas, But Ninth Circuit Disagrees. On July 23, 2009, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, in Lohman v. Duryea Borough, __ F.3d __, 2009 WL 2183056 (3d Cir. 2009), affirmed a district judge’s decision
Unpublished Decision Faces Some Interesting Fee-Shifting Issues In ADA Case. Many of the California intermediate appellate unpublished decisions we examine have some very interesting legal issues for jurists to grapple with and resolve. The next one is no exception, containing some gnarly fee-shifting issues that involve Code of Civil Procedure section 998 (pretrial offer
This Comes On Top of $1.2 Million Jury Verdict. Newport Beach, California police Sergeant Neil Harvey sued for sexual discrimination in a case that has likely polarized the Newport Beach Police Department and generated lots of press coverage. He won a $1.2 million jury verdict in March 2009, stemming from his claim that
Illinois Sitting Judge Shadur Raises Alchemy Analogy in Court of Appeal Decision. Federal court costs are routinely rewarded to the prevailing party—especially the party winning a summary judgment motion or trial against a plaintiff. Even though this happened in the context of a summary judgment proceeding, the plaintiffs in the next case tried to
His Attorneys Are Seeking a $1 Million Lodestar Plus a Multiplier. According to a May 14, 2009 article by Joseph Serna in the Daily Pilot, civil attorneys representing Newport Beach police Sgt. Neil Harvey, who obtained a favorable civil rights award of $1.2 million from a jury earlier this year, will be moving for
Second District, Division 5 Finds No Abuse of Discretion, But Provides Tantalizing Dicta on Statement of Decision Requirements in Unpublished Decision; It Also Reminds Everyone to Provide a Reporter’s Transcript on Appeal. The next case may seem mundane, but does give some insights into the thought process of judges when confronting fee awards where
Decision Reversing $200,000 Fee Award and Remanding for Reconsideration. In our December 25, 2008 post, we reviewed McCown v. City of Fontana, 550 F.3d 918 (9th Cir. 2008), which reversed and remanded a $200,000 fee award in a civil rights case (42 U.S.C. sec. 1983). The Ninth Circuit recently denied panel rehearing and
Ninth Circuit Reverses District Court’s Sanctions Order. In an American with Disabilities Act (ADA) case, a district judge dismissed a lawsuit based on plaintiff’s lack of standing and imposed monetary sanctions against plaintiff and his counsel for bringing a frivolous case. The Ninth Circuit reversed the standing determination, which also meant that the sanctions
Use of Multiplier Appropriate Even Where Substantial Punitive Damages Also Were Awarded. Bimbo Bakeries, known for selling such brands of Orowheat and Entemann’s, suffered an adverse jury verdict based on plaintiff’s complaint for wrongful termination, gender and pregnancy discrimination, and violation of related California statutes. The jury awarded plaintiff $340,700 in compensatory damages and
