Second District, Division Seven Awards Fees To Broker Based On Fraud and Fees Clause in Brokerage Agreement. Normally, Civil Code section 1717 does not allow recovery for fraud counts, unless the fees clause is broadly worded. (See our category “Cases: Section 1717.”) However, practitioners should not forget that fee recovery may be possible […]
Sixth District So Rules In Sustaining Fee Award For Some Work By Winning Litigant’s Attorneys Before and After Arbitration Proceeding. Defendant suffered an adverse arbitration award of $67,089.16 to plaintiff for failing to pay plaintiff his value in a health center pursuant to a second buy-out agreement. The arbitrator awarded arbitration costs/fees, but ordered
Second District, Division One Sustains Denial of Fee Recovery Without Predicate Underpinnings for an Award. The first step of any analysis for recovery of fees is to locate a statute or contractual clause authorizing their recovery. Without this, the American Rule will usually preclude any efforts to recoup incurred attorney’s fees in litigation. The
Fourth District, Division Three Reverses A Fee Award Based on Lack of “Incorporation” Verbiage in Sub-Sublease. The next case shows that use of the words “subject to” rather than “incorporation” language may impede an award of attorney’s fees to a winning party in a sublease dispute context. In Head and Neck Associates v.
Second District, Division Four Determines Landlord Prevailed and Dismisses Other Technical Challenges to Major Portion of Fee Award. Tenant got caught up in an imbroglio with her Landlords when she moved her business into a residential apartment after the roof of her off-premises store collapsed. After being served with an eviction
Second District, Division Eight Reverses Lower Court Determination Denying Fee Based on Limited Scope of Fees Clause. In enacting Civil Code section 1717, the Legislature made it abundantly clear that mutuality principles are to govern interpretation of attorney’s fees clauses such that unilaterally worded provisions are construed as reciprocal in nature.
Second District, Division Two Finds Arbitrator Did Not Exceed His Power In Awarding Substantial Fee Award In Favor of Law Firm and Against Former Client. Former Client in 1999 signed a fee retainer agreement, both individually and on behalf of two affiliates, in which arbitration was the dispute resolution remedy. The
Fourth District, Division Two Holds Successor Bound By Fee Clause in Loan Documents. In this interesting time of economic woes, there are many persons who “assume” loans from borrowers without lender consent. Not only can this practice likely trigger “due on sale” clauses, it also may expose the successor borrower to
Second District Reversed $119,947 Fee Award Under Definitive Agreement Fee Clause. One of the first concerns that a winning litigant must face in post-trial proceedings is whether the litigant has a fee entitlement basis to seek an award of attorney’s fees. This usually focuses on a contractual fee clause or a
Second District Rejects Borrower’s Argument That Contractual Fees Incurred by Lender Are Excluded from Deficiency Calculation. In this time of subprime lending fallout and rising foreclosures, judicial foreclosures are making a comeback, as they typically do when market values plunge. Lenders on commercial and investment residential projects frequently opt to pursue
