Cases: Ethics

Ethics: Defense Counsel’s Failure To Notify Plaintiff Or Lower Court About Ineligibility To Practice Of Plaintiff’s Attorney Led To A Reversal And Remand Of An Adverse Fee Award Against Plaintiff

Cases: Ethics

Plaintiff Was Not In Pro Per, But Basically Unrepresented By Ineligible Counsel And No One Gave Her Notice Of The Ineligibility—Civility Again Stressed In The Fees Area.                Civility has been stressed in many recent appellate opinions, with fee reductions affirmed and with multipliers denied based on incivility by a litigant’s claiming attorney asking for […]

Construction, Costs, Ethics, Indemnity, Fee Clause Interpretation, Section 1717: $4.176M Contractual Fee Award To General Contractor And Against Owner Affirmed On Appeal, But Expert Witness Costs Award To General Contractor Reversed As A Matter Of Law

Cases: Construction, Cases: Costs, Cases: Ethics, Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation, Cases: Indemnity, Cases: Section 1717

Case Explores Fee Clause Interpretation, An Award Of Fees To An Unlicensed Associate Supervised By A California Attorney, And An Award Of Expert Witness Costs Which Were Not Pled Or Proven As Damages.                The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. v. 250 Fourth Development LP, Case No. A169470 (1st Dist., Div. 5 June 13, 2025) (unpublished) is

Ethics, SLAPP: Fees Award, After Previous SLAPP Grant Reversal, Had To Be Reversed

Cases: Ethics, Cases: SLAPP

… But Plaintiff’s Uncivil Remarks In Appellate Briefing Led The Court Of Appeal To Deny It Costs On Appeal.                Incivility is a recurring theme by trial and appellate courts.  This opinion is one that, yet again, reinforces that attorneys should refrain from making attacks against opposing counsel and the trial judge.                In WasteXperts,

Ethics, Liens For Attorney Fees: Attorney’s Lien Had Superiority Over Surety’s Later Assignment Of Claims, Gaining Almost $1.39 Million From Settlement Proceeds

Cases: Ethics, Cases: Liens for Attorney Fees

Lower Court Did Not Err In Adjudicating Lien Claim In The Underlying Action Because The Parties Stipulated To The Procedure.                Plaintiff’s attorney in USS Cal Builders, Inc. v. San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit Dist., Case No. A168102 (1st Dist., Div. 5 Sept. 20, 2024) (unpublished) had a lien on settlement proceeds which was

Ethics, Retainer Agreements: Attorneys Could Not Keep Unearned Portion Of Fees In Flat Fee Retainer, While Client Could Not Force Disgorgement Of Pre-Withdrawal Fees Earned By Discharged Attorneys

Cases: Ethics, Cases: Retainer Agreements

Rules Of Professional Conduct And Wording Of Retainer Agreement Guided The Result.                Both ex-attorneys and ex-client took draconian positions in a case involving what fees were owed by ex-client under a flat fee retainer agreement involving criminal and divorce proceedings.  Attorneys claimed they were entitled to the whole $350,000 retainer even though they did

Ethics, Referral Agreements: Joint Venture Agreement Between Two Firms, Where One Firm Failed To Register As A Professional Law Corporation, Was Not Unenforceable As Against Public Policy

Cases: Ethics, Cases: Referral Agreements

No Clients Were Harmed, So Enforcing The Agreement Was Fine Under The Circumstances.                In Liberty Law Office, Inc. v. The Bloom Firm, Case Nos. A165269 et al. (1st Dist., Div. 1 Mar. 20, 2024) (unpublished; opn. modified and rehearing denied), arbitrators, the lower court, and the appellate court all agreed that a Joint Venture

Ethics, Lodestar, Multipliers: Lower Court Properly Applied A .4 Negative Multiplier To A FEHA Fee Request Based On Plaintiff’s Counsel’s Incivility Throughout The Litigation

Cases: Ethics, Cases: Lodestar, Cases: Multipliers

2/3 DCA Agreed With The Reasoning In Karton.             More and more, we are seeing appellate opinions, whether published or not, stressing the need for civility among attorneys in litigation cases.  In fact, there are proposals being considered which would require that California attorneys, annually, have to reaffirm their oath and to confirm they will

Ethics, Retainer Agreement, Special Fee Shifting Provisions: Although Fee Award Against HOA Belongs To Attorney, Attorney Had To Offset For Contingency Fee Already Received

Cases: Ethics, Cases: Retainer Agreements, Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes

Attorney Was Liable For Substantial Elder Abuse Fees To Prevailing Elderly Client Based On Failing To Properly Offset And Return Money To Client.             Koehler v. Prinz, Case No. C095229 (3d Dist. Sept. 25, 2023) (unpublished) is a case which shows that attorneys need to be careful when they receive a fee award which belongs

Scroll to Top