Cases: Lodestar

Fee Substantiation, Lodestar: Detailed Fee Billings Not Required For Substantiation And Fee Recovery Does Not Need To Be Proportional To Damages Awarded Under Contractual Fee Recovery

Cases: Lodestar, Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

$625-675 Partner Hourly Rates And $395-475 Associate Hourly Rates Were Found Reasonable For Los Angeles Attorneys.              In SP Investment Fund I v. Grossman, Case No. B284289 (2d Dist., Div. 4 Aug. 29, 2018) (unpublished), prevailing plaintiff moved for attorney’s fees based on a contractual fees clause, winning the whole requested tamale (including additionally requested […]

Employment, Lodestar, Multiplier: Employer Not Winning Total Defense Victory In De Novo Sup. Ct. Appeal Of Labor Comm. Award Properly Hit With Adverse Fee Award Of $86,160 Even Though Labor Comm. Award Only $4,250 (Rev. Down To $2,250 By Court Of Appeal)

Cases: Employment, Cases: Lodestar, Cases: Multipliers

Limited Success Argument Does Not Diminish Fee Recovery In This Particular Context.             In Nishiki v. Danko Meredith P.C., Case No. A147733 (1st Dist., Div. 4 Aug. 1, 2018) (published), an employer suffered an adverse Berman hearing award before the Labor Commissioner for waiting time penalties for failure to deliver a check for final wages

Civil Rights, Lodestar, Reasonableness Of Fees: Over Vigorous Dissent, Ninth Circuit Rules That C.D. Cal. Local Rule Default Judgment Fee Schedule Does Not Apply Where Plaintiff Obtaining Default Judgment Asks For Lodestar Fees In ADA Case

Cases: Civil Rights, Cases: Lodestar, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees

Dissenting Circuit Judge Believed That Not Adhering To Local Rule Suggestions Would Lead To Potential Abuse.             The Ninth Circuit, in Vogel v. Harbor Plaza Center, LLC, No. 16-55229 (9th Cir. June 25, 2018) (published), visited the issue of how attorney’s fees in an American with Disabilities Act (ADA) case should be handled in an

Lodestar/Substantiation Of Reasonableness Of Fees: Prevailing Party’s Attorney’s Declaration And Billing Statements Constituted Adequate Substantiation

Cases: Lodestar, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees

Full Fee Request Properly Awarded By The Trial Court, Which Did Not Need To Expressly Discuss Lodestar Factor Consideration In Her Ruling             As we have observed before, federal courts generally require more detailed substantiation in support of fee requests and require district judges to explain their fees awards with some specificity.  (See posts under

Landlord/Tenant; Lodestar; Special Fee Shifting Statute:  Two Fee Orders Reversed On Appeal

Cases: Landlord/Tenant, Cases: Lodestar

Trial Judge Failed To Honor Voluntary Dismissal By Plaintiffs In Awarding Fees To Defense, While Lower Court Failed To Utilize Lodestar Methodology In Awarding Reduced Fees To Plaintiffs Under Settlement Agreement.             Duncan v. Nathan, Case No. A147468 (1st Dist., Div. 5 Feb. 5, 2018) (unpublished) involved a landlord-tenant dispute involving claims for negligence, quiet

Civil Rights, Lodestar, Multiplier, Reasonableness Of Fees:  Trial Judge Properly Cut Lodestar By 25%, And Applied A 1.5 Positive Multiplier, For Total Fee Award Of $752,925.92 In Case Garnering Compensatory Damages Of $625,000 To Plaintiff

Cases: Civil Rights, Cases: Lodestar, Cases: Multipliers, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees

Trial Judge Also Properly Awarded $15,000 Supplemental Fees For Posttrial Work.             For those of you not practicing in the employment/FEHA area, civil rights plaintiffs in disability/harassment/failure to accommodate cases are entitled to recovery of attorney’s fees under a pro-plaintiff statutory fee-shifting provision to be construed liberally to allow plaintiff full compensation for prevailing in

Lodestar:  Non-Prevailing Parties’ Failure To Properly Present Financial Information To Diminish Lodestar Request Sustained Large Fee Award

Cases: Lodestar

Appellants Failed To Follow Trial Court Options, Or Ask For Sealing Of Financial Records Under Applicable California Rules Of Court.             After a prior appeal in which the reviewing court remanded a sanctions/fee award to consider what causes of action it related to and also consider the financial circumstances of appellants as far as the

Lodestar/Reasonableness Of Fees:  $262,400 Fee Award In Real Estate Misrepresentation Case Won By Defendant Sellers Affirmed On Appeal

Cases: Lodestar, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees

Various Lodestar Challenges Are Rejected In Unpublished Portion of Opinion.             In RSB Vineyards, LLC v. Orsi, Case Nos. A143781/A145029 (1st Dist., Div. 3 Sept. 29, 2017) (partially published; fee discussion not published), the trial and appellate courts confronted a plaintiff misrepresentation action relating to its purchase of a residence with a vineyard/wine tasting building

Class Action, Common Fund, Employment, Lodestar, Multiplier:  N.D. Cal. District Judge Ilston Awards Wage/Hour Class Action Counsel $15,200,002.90 In Hybrid Statutory Fee/Common Fund Case Against Wal-Mart

Cases: Class Actions, Cases: Common Fund, Cases: Employment, Cases: Lodestar, Cases: Multipliers

District Judge Confronts Multiple Issues In Reaching Fee Award.             U.S. District Judge Susan Ilston in Ridgeway v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Case No. 08-cv-05221-SI (N.D. Cal. Sept. 14, 2017 Doc. #606) confronted numerous issues in deciding the appropriate award to class counsel in a truck driver employee class action case against Wal-Mart for wage hour

Lodestar: Percentage Of Recovery Fee And Incentive Awards Reversed By Tenth Circuit

Cases: Lodestar

Lodestar Method Should Have Been Used Instead. North Star.  Photo:  Udo Kugel.  2001. Wikipedia.  Public domain.         Chieftan Royalty Co. v. Enervest Energy Institutional Fund XIII-A, No. 16-6022  (10th Cir. July 3, 2017) (published) was a class action based on diversity jurisdiction where a district judge awarded class counsel fees and a class representative an incentive

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