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
Recent Case Illustrates the Right Way to Handle A Dispute in Segments and Highlights Good Provisions to Have in Retainer Agreement In Fitzgerald Abbott & Beardsley LLP v. Miller, Case No. A118762 (1st Dist., Div. 3 July 31, 2008) (unpublished), Former Client hired Attorneys to resolve a dispute with Client’s neighbors
Sixth District Finds That Stock Option and Voting Trust Agreements Were Not Interrelated and Never Sued Upon In Winning Litigant’s Complaint. Under Civil Code section 1717, one needs a written agreement with a fee clause for potential attorney’s fees recovery. Many times, there are several agreements involved in an overall transaction,
Third District Affirms Award of Lis Pendens Expungement Fees to Brokers and Sustains Denial of Attorney’s Fees to Brokers Under Real Estate Purchase Agreement Fee Clause. This next case deals with contractual fee awards under Civil Code section 1717 and fees assessed against a party that lost a lis pendens expungement
Second District Remands For Settling the Reasonable Amount of Attorney’s Fees and Costs. Usually, prevailing party determinations are reviewed under the abuse of discretion standard on appeal. Not always, however. Sometimes the contractual fees clause is clear in specifying a prevailing party and one side wins a final judgment in their
Fifth District Drops Some Tantalizing Dicta About The Causal Relationship Necessary to Conclude Disputes “Arise Out of a Contract” for Purposes of Awarding Fees. Although one might think that unpublished decisions only involve mundane issues of legal application, our posts have shown that they frequently confront novel issues or provide dicta
First District Recognizes the Distinction In Affirming Trial Court Decision Refusing To Award Fees to a Winning Plaintiff. Client retained Former Attorneys to represent his interests as a creditor in a bankruptcy proceeding. Client signed a retainer agreement providing that Attorneys would use their best efforts to represent Client’s interests and
