County Was Awarded $101,174.40 In Fees And $1,259.60 In Costs Under Section 1983 As Against Losing Plaintiff. The Ninth Circuit in Citizens for Free Speech, LLC v. County of Alameda, No. 18-16805 et seq. (9th Cir. Mar. 24, 2020) (published), found that civil rights case dismissals under Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37 (1971) […]
Court Majority Believed "Punishing" Attorneys For An Initial High Demand By Slashing Fees Would Lead To "Perverse Incentives." A steep 90% discount of a senior litigator's fees led a panel majority of the 9th Circuit to demand further explanation from the trial judge. Vargas v. Howell, No. 18-15513 (9th Cir. 2/5/20) (maj: Miller, Watford;
Plaintiff Did Not Necessarily Have To File Noticed Motion Where Trial Court Did Exercise Discretion In Awarding Them Through The Costs Memorandum Process. A FEHA plaintiff won a very nice jury verdict of $2 million in compensatory damages and $6.1 million in punitive damages (reduced on appeal to $4.264 million based on a net
$1,037,286 Fee Award Was Paid On Remand From $3.769 Million FEHA Compensatory Verdict. Plaintiff in Leggins v. Rite Aid Corp. & Thrifty Payless, Inc., Case No. B290700 (2d Dist., Div. 1 Dec. 20, 2019) (unpublished) had won a FEHA harassment/wrongful discharge verdict against defendants to the tune of $3.79 million in compensatory damages, $5
Key Decision For Civil Rights and Municipal Attorneys To Read! Beames v. City of Visalia, Case No. F075855 (5th Dist. Dec. 19, 2019) (published) is key reading for civil rights and municipal practitioners on attorney’s fees entitlement under 42 U.S.C. § 1988. What happened in this case is that plaintiff/petitioner obtained superior court
A Lawsuit Brought In Bad Faith With Several False Statements In His Complaint Sealed The Deal For This Plaintiff. In Marciano v. City of Los Angeles, Case Nos. B287477 and B288907 (2d Dist., Div. 8 November 4, 2019) (unpublished), two police officers brought a whistleblower lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles claiming retaliation
Former Employee Achieved Her Litigation Objectives With Set Of Facts Common To All Causes Of Action. In Gwin v. Natvan, Case No. B292990 (2d Dist., Div. 1 October 1, 2019) (unpublished), former employee sued employer and its vice-president (husband of employer’s owner) asserting 13 separate causes of action – several of which allowed
Theory Is That Carriers Are An Extension Of FEMA In Remitting Payments So As To Trigger Fee Recovery Under EAJA. Back in 2009, the Fifth Circuit in Dwyer v. Fidelity National Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co., 565 F.3d 284, 289 (5th Cir. 2019) foreclosed recovery of attorney’s fees in coverage litigation by flood plaintiffs
September 9, 2019 Unpublished Decision Now Partially Published. On September 9, 2019, we posted on then unpublished decision in Hawkins v. City of Los Angeles, which dealt with the Bane Act/Whistleblower Retaliation victories, and $1,054,286.88 attorney’s fees award, obtained by two fired Department of Transportation hearing examiners who had sued the City of Los
There Was Humor Here—Ninth Circuit Agreed Attorney Petitioning For Fees Was Ill-Advised To Put In A Declaration By A Hawaiian Plumber About What The Plumber Charged! As you will see, there is some underlying humor simmering in Roberts v. City and County of Honolulu, No. 16-16179 (9th Cir. Sept. 12, 2019) (published). What
