Cases: Class Actions

Class Action And Arbitration Crossover: Appellate Court Affirms Arbitrator Computational Error Correction In Class Action Attorney’s Fee Allocation Dispute

Cases: Arbitration, Cases: Class Actions

First District, Division 1 Addresses Claimed Conflict Between JAMS Rules and CCP Arbitration Correction Provision.      Here is a decision that involves consideration of class action and arbitration crossover issues.      Two attorneys deserving of attorney’s fees in a substantial class action settlement entered into an agreement among themselves on the allocation of fees, calling […]

Class Action And Equity: Shareholder Obtaining Minor Changes To Proxy Statement Not Entitled To Substantial Benefit Fee Recovery In The Absence of Presuit Notification To Defending Public Company

Cases: Class Actions, Cases: Equity

  Fourth District, Division 3 Uses Equitable Maxims in Reaching Result.      Our favorite line in the decision we next review is this: “Since delay defeats equity, we will hold our applause.”        Above:  Cartoon showing blinded “Justice” trying to drag the “Letter of the Law” through obstacles of “delay, postponement, re-trial, and technicality”.   1912. 

Class Actions: Trial Court’s Error In Not Enforcing Arbitration Provision On Attorney’s Fees Range Was Not Prejudicial Where Lower Court Found Fees Were Reasonable And Not Collusive In Nature

Cases: Class Actions

First District, Division 5 Faces First Impression Issue in Reviewing Trial Court’s Refusal to Enforce Arbitration Provision In Class Action Fee Resolution Arena.      Well, we kick off our 2010 review of jurisprudence with an interesting decision from the First District, Division 5 in the class action area.      In Cellphone Termination Fee Cases, Case

Class Actions: Class Action Fee Settlement Remanded Because Trial Judge Failed To Use Lodestar Method

Cases: Class Actions, Cases: Lodestar

  $20,000 Fee Award Reversed Where Class Action Attorney Requested $263,606 in Fees.      The next case illustrates that California courts generally require use of the lodestar method in non-common fund cases. Trial judges cannot simply use the common fund method in a case that really isn’t a fund case; in these instances, the lodestar

Three-Fer From Recent California And ABA Monthly Magazines/Papers

Cases: Class Actions, Cases: Insurance, Cases: Retainer Agreements, Cases: Settlement, Off Topics

  No. 1: Ellen Peck Reviews “Fees, Fee Agreements & Arbitrations” in December 2009 Edition of CALIFORNIA BAR JOURNAL.      Ellen R. Peck, an Escondido sole practitioner and former State Bar Court judge, made these points in her recent California Bar Journal article: Except in limited circumstances, most private attorneys have to notify clients they

Class Actions: Class Counsel Have Obligations To Enforce Judgment And Report To Supervising Court On Uncollectibility

Cases: Class Actions

Class Counsel’s Obligations Do Not End With Entry of Judgment.      Class actions have heightened obligations for class counsel, with fiduciary obligations that transcend those owed to non-class clients. The next case shows that the obligations extend beyond mere entry of judgment.      Barboza v. West Coast Digital GSM, Inc., Case No. B215454 (2d Dist.,

In The News . . . . Wal-Mart Settles Many Federal Unpaid Wages Lawsuits For Between $65-85 Million

Cases: Class Actions, In The News

Plaintiffs’ Attorneys Stand To Be Awarded One-Third of Final Recovery Up to An Estimated $28 Million Ceiling.      Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, recently won approval of a settlement of over 30 federal lawsuits alleging the retailer did not pay all required wages to workers. The settlement, which was blessed on November 2,

Attorney’s Fees in the News: Objectors’ Attorneys Get Awards on Remand in BAR/BRI Class Action

Cases: Class Actions, In The News

 The Ninth Circuit Having Spoken, Trial Judge Awards Token.       In an April 26, 2009 post, we reported that class representative incentive agreements that created conflicting interests required new consideration of fee awards to objectors and class counsel.  The case was Rodriguez v. West Publishing, Case Nos. 07-56643 et al. (9th Cir. Apr. 23, 2009)

Class Actions: $3 Million Fee/Costs Award Affirmed in B&P Section 17200 Consumer Privacy Class Action Against Bank of America

Cases: Class Actions, Cases: Lodestar

First District, Division 5 Rejects Clear Sailing Clause/Class Counsel Conflict Challenges to Fee Award.      In the next case that we review, the Court of Appeal dealt with “clear sailing clauses” in class action settlements and the claim that class counsel conflicts in obtaining fees need “structural” review. The appellate panel found that these clauses

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