State Supreme Court Clarifies UCL Reach On Insurance Bad Faith Actions, Including A Footnote On Fee Recovery. In Zhang v. Superior Court, Case No. S178542 (Cal. Supreme Court Aug. 1, 2013), our state supreme court held that common law bad faith insurances cases can be pled and sustained as unfair competition law claims, […]
No One Prevailed, He Ultimately Ruled. Well, U.S. District Judge Edward Davila (N.D. Cal.) had his hands full in dueling fee petitions brought by a disabled plaintiff class action representative Donald Cullen and Netflix, Inc. after the federal district judge dismissed the plaintiff’s third amended complaint with prejudice. However, plaintiff claimed
Discusses Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Fee-Shifting and Block Billing. In our April 5, 2013 post, we discussed Heritage Pacific Financial, LLC v. Monroy, which discussed the FDCPA pro-plaintiff fee-shifting statute (even where success is modest) and block billing issues (confirming that trial courts have discretion on how to penalize block billing, if
Block Billing Also Discussed. A creditor was sued under a cross-complaint by a debtor under both the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). Debtor won a summary judgment motion on the FDCPA claim, on condition that she agree to a compensatory award of $1,
We are not sure that our local appellate court was equitably happy with the result it reached, but it certainly felt the law was followed. In Le v. Crawford, Case No. G046271 et al. (4th Dist., Div. 3 Jan. 31, 2013) (unpublished), defendant did receive a $92,000 judgment for unpaid work in
District Judge Failed to Gauge Success Where Small Amount At Issue, Requiring a Lodestar Reanalysis on Remand. The Ninth Circuit in Evon v. Law Offices of Sidney Mickell, Case No. 10-16615 et al. (9th Cir. Aug. 1, 2012) (published) dealt with a plaintiff suing a collecting law firm under the Fair Debt Collection
No Judgment Needed and Dismissal With Prejudice Sufficient to Shift Fees and Costs Under Song-Beverly Act Scheme. The Fifth District in Wohlgemuth v. Caterpillar, Inc., Case No. F061981 (5th Dist. July 23, 2012) (partially published) answered some interesting questions about the nature of Code of Civil Procedure section 998 fee-shifting in the context
Wow–Fee Entitlement Can Be Had, If You Are Tenacious And Can Get to the Right Independent Basis! The Fifth District’s decision in Pierce v. Western Surety Co., Case No. F062096 (5th Dist. June 22, 2012) (published) goes to show you that the fee entitlement race sometimes goes to the tenacious. All you need
Fee-Shifting Provision in Elder Abuse Law Vetted An Important Public Policy. The Fifth District in Bickel v. Sunrise Assisted Living, Case No. F062443 (5th Dist. May 21, 2012) (certified for publication) involved a plaintiff suing defendant assisted living facility for elder abuse. Plaintiff entered into a residency agreement with an arbitration clause, with
Lower Court Could Conclude Consumer’s Requested Fees Were Padded in Making Reduced Award. Plaintiff consumer reached a settlement with Sears, Roebuck for a gift card dispute under the Consumer Legal Remedies Act, preserving the ability to seek reasonable fees and costs from the lower court under the compromise. (CLRA does have a fee-shifting
