Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation

Second Sentence Of Civil Code Section 1717(a) Precludes Restricted Application Of Mutuality Principle Unless Parties Recite That Counsel Was Involved In Negotiation and Execution Of The Contract

Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation, Cases: Section 1717

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.  […]

Deed of Trust Fee Clause: Successor Borrower Assuming Loan Without Lender Consent Held Subject To Fee Award Exposure

Cases: Deeds of Trust, Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation, Cases: Section 1717

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

Even Though Letter Of Intent Required Good Faith Consummation Of A Subsequent Definitive Agreement, Lack Of Attorney’s Fees Clause In LOI Gave Winning Plaintiffs No Fee Entitlement Basis

Cases: Estoppel, Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation

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

Judicial Foreclosure Actions—Attorney’s Fees Are Added to the Loan Indebtedness for Purposes of Calculating Deficiency and Fee Exposure

Cases: Deeds of Trust, Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation, Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes

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

Attorneys Successfully Sue Former Client For Collection Of Full Receivable Plus Attorney’s Fees In Collecting The Receivable

Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation, Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

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

Winning Joint Venture Litigant Denied Attorney’s Fees Because The Operative Memorandum Of Understanding Had No Fees Clauses And Other Peripheral Contracts With Fees Clauses Were Not Part of An Integrated Transaction

Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation, Cases: Section 1717, Cases: Standard of Review

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,

Suing Real Estate Buyers, Who Were Defensed At Judgment On The Pleadings Stage, Were Not Stung With Real Estate Purchase Contractual Fees By Victorious Brokers, But Did Suffer Fee Exposure From Lis Pendens Expungement Proceeding

Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation, Cases: Lis Pendens, Cases: Section 1717

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

Appellate Court Reverses Non-Prevailing Party Determination Because Client Defensed Attorney on Contract Claim In A Jury Trial

Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation, Cases: Prevailing Party, Cases: Standard of Review

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

Real Estate Sales Contract Allows Plaintiffs to Recover Attorney’s Fees for Judicial Proceedings Connected with Arbitration

Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation, Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

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

Scroll to Top