Cases: Fees as Damages

Fees as Damages, Substantiation Of Reasonableness Of Fees: Using Client To Authenticate Attorney’s Fees Invoices Found To Be An Incompetent Showing, Requiring Reversal As A Matter Of Law

Cases: Fees as Damages, Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

Case Is A Stark Reminder On How To Competently Introduce Attorney’s Invoices In A Trial Where Fees Are Claimed As Damages.             Justice Fybel, a sitting justice on our local Santa Ana court (this year’s winner of the David G. Sills Award for Appellate Excellence Presentation by the Orange County Bar Association Appellate Law Section), […]

Fees As Damages: 1/2 DCA Unpublished Decision Reminds Us That Litigation Expenses Alone Can Be Awarded As Special Damages In Slander Of Title Actions

Cases: Fees as Damages

In The Unpublished Case, $784,285.78 In Fees Were Awarded As Damages By The Lower Court, A Determination Affirmed On Appeal.             In Burlingame Investment Corp. v. Kwai, Case No. A144944 (1st Dist., Div. 2 May 18, 2018) (unpublished), plaintiffs won a slander of title cause of action against defendants, with the trial judge awarding defendants

Fees As Damages:  Latham & Watkins Look Like It Won $1.6 Million in Fees, As Damages, In Long-Standing Malicious Prosecution Suit

Cases: Fees as Damages

Trial Judge Found Fees, Although Labeled “Obscene,” Were Normal For Los Angeles Cases Of This Sort.             As reported by Law360, a California state judge recently ruled that Latham & Watkins tentatively was entitled to an award of attorney’s fees to the tune of about $1.6 million as damages in a malicious prosecution case against

Damages/Trade Secrets:  Cal Sup. Ct. Holds Interim Adverse Judgment Rule Means Attorneys Not Exposed To Costs And Fee In Malicious Prosecution Action Even If Client Eventually Found Liable But Beat Underlying SJM Though Trial Ct Found Bad Faith

Cases: Fees as Damages, Cases: Trade Secrets

In Dicta, State Supreme Court Does Not Pass On Trade Secret Fee-Shifting Principle             We believe that all attorneys might breathe a little easier after the recent decision of our California Supreme Court in Parrish v. Latham & Watkins, Case No. S228277 (Cal. Supreme Court Aug. 10, 2017) (published).             In this one, plaintiff lost

Section 1717: Fees As Damages Under Breach Of Contract Claim Must Be Decided By The Jury At Trial, Not The Trial Judge On Noticed Motion

Cases: Fees as Damages, Cases: Section 1717

Jury Right Implicated, With Brandt Being Persuasive On The Issue. Jury.  1918-20.  Library of Congress.             In Monster, LLC v. Superior Court (Beats Electronics, LLC), Case No. B278289 (2d Dist., Div. 7 June 21, 2017) (published), cross-complainant brought a breach of contract cross-claim, alleging that the cross-defendants had caused the company to incur attorney’s fees and

Insurance: On Remand, Intermediate Appellate Court Includes Brandt Fees And Then Finds $475,000 In Punitive Damages Rather Than $19 Million Justified Based On Prior Trial Court Remittitur

Cases: Fees as Damages, Cases: Insurance

  Case Was On Remand From California Supreme Court.     On June 9, 2016, we posted on Nickerson v. Stonebridge Life Ins. Co., 63 Cal.4th 363, 368, 371, 377 (2016), which decided that Brandt fees should be added to compensatory damages for purposes of determining the compensatory damages ratio for purposes of adjudging the reasonableness

Insurance: California Supreme Court Rules—Do Brandt Attorney Fees Get To Be Considered In Punitive-To-Compensatory Damages Ratio On The Compensatory Side?

Cases: Fees as Damages, Cases: Insurance

  You Betcha, State Supreme Court Decided.     In Nickerson v. Stonebridge Life Ins. Co., Case No. S213873 (Cal. Supreme Court June 9, 2016), the California Supreme Court confronted the issue of whether attorney’s fees awarded to a prevailing plaintiff in a “bad faith” insurance lawsuit should be considered where attorney’s fees under Brandt v.

Damages/Deadlines/Equity/Prevailing Parties: Dueling Prevailing Parties Remain That Way After Appeal

Cases: Deadlines, Cases: Equity, Cases: Fees as Damages, Cases: Prevailing Party

  Remand to Determine if Offseting is Appropriate; Each Note Claim Judged on its Own.      Williams v. Meyer, Case No. B243491 (2d Dist., Div. 6 June 4, 2013) (unpublished) involved a debtor plaintiff/cross-defendant and creditor defendant/cross-complainant having dueling claims on two notes delivered in favor of defendant and secured by plaintiff’s house (with fees

Fees As Damages: Stearman Investigative Costs In Construction Defect Matter Awarded To Plaintiff–But Well Under A Third Of Requested Expenses

Cases: Fees as Damages

  Award Affirmed, Because They Have To Be Reasonable And Bear A Logical Relationship to the Successful Claims.      Altman v. John Mourier Construction, Inc., Case No. C064340 (3d Dist. Jan. 10, 2013) (unpublished) is an interesting construction defect case involving an award of Stearman expenses, a specialized issue to which we now turn with

Scroll to Top