Wife’s Appeal Of Fee Denial Was Untimely. Wife was flummoxed by a lower court’s refusal to award her attorney’s fees, appealing from the denial in Bennett v. Foss, Case Nos. A145656/147009 (1st Dist., Div. 1 Sept. 28, 2016) (unpublished). Unfortunately for her, the appellate court determined that she untimely appealed such that it […]
Appeal Was Timely, Given That Judgment Appeal Swept In Later Order Fixing Fees. In Ducoing Enterprises, Inc. v. Patriot Paving, Inc., Case No. G051582 (4th Dist., Div. 3 June 15, 2016) (unpublished), a 3-0 decision authored by Justice Fybel, contractor won a $39,335 compensatory award against property owner in a complaint and a
Procedural, Bad Faith 998 Offer, And Late-Filed Motion To Tax Costs Arguments Rebuffed On Appeal. In Dinh v. Lejano, Case No. H041828 (6th Dist. May 31, 2016) (unpublished), plaintiff won $12,000 in a personal injury case, obtaining a jury verdict for past medical expenses but not subsequent treatments/pain and suffering. The jury also
Followed In Unpublished Opinion Issued On April 26, 2016. On August 21, 2014, we first posted on Kaufman v. Diskeeper Corp., 229 Cal.App.4th 1, 8-9 (2014), which held that a costs memorandum did not have to be filed as a condition precedent for purposes of a litigant being able to seek
Procedural Requirements Do Matter In Cases. c1902. Library of Congress. Campbell v. Hyundai Motor America, Case No. B260298 (2d Dist., Div. 7 Dec. 16, 2015) (unpublished) is a triple whammy and shows why meeting procedural filing deadlines can be result dispositive in many matters. Briefly told, plaintiff dismissed a lemon law
Costs—CEQA Record Preparation: North County Advocates v. City of Carlsbad, Case No. D066488 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Sept. 10, 2015) (Unpublished). In this first case, the appellate court reversed and remanded a costs award in favor of City in a costs award with respect to certain record preparation costs. The takeaways here are
Also, Service Of Judgment Electronically Extended The Time To File/Serve Costs Memorandum. In a very detailed published decision, the Second District, Division 3 confronted two issues: (1) whether a costs memorandum filed 17 days after electronic service of a notice of entry of judgment was timely, and (2) whether some dismissed defendants in
Lots of Procedural, Allocation, and Reasonableness Challenges Rejected. In Save Westwood Village v. Luskin, Case No. B257354 (2d Dist., Div. 2 Aug. 18, 2015 posting) (unpublished), defendants brought a SLAPP motion, triggering plaintiffs to voluntarily dismiss them from the case. However, the trial court determined the merits of the SLAPP motion, granted it,
Judgment Awarding Fees Was Not Void, So Attack Was Unsuccessful. In Francis v. Foxx, Case No. B256423 (2d Dist., Div. 8 Aug. 6, 2015) (unpublished), plaintiff tenants won $3,445 in a landlord dispute after a bench trial, but then were awarded $47,430 (out of a requested $70,000) in Civil Code section 1717 contractual
Also, Chapter 7 Trustee Properly Dismissed Case Against Defendants, With Chapter 7 Trustee “Owning” the Dismissed Claims. Plaintiff, a Chapter 7 bankrupt, tried to get attorney’s fees a year after one of his actions was dismissed in favor of defendants by the Chapter 7 trustee under a settlement agreement. Plaintiff still went to
