Cases: POOF!

Section 1717: Attorney’s Fees Award Reversed Because Declarations Did Not Establish Whether “Of Counsel” Attorneys Got Past Trope Restriction

Cases: POOF!, Cases: Section 1717

$20,147.50 Fee Award and $3,581.87 Costs Award Go POOF!       We have many times explored the restriction in Trope v. Katz, 11 Cal.4th 274, 292 (1995) [one of our Leading Cases], where in propria persona attorneys cannot recover Civil Code section 1717 fees expended in litigating matters on their own behalf. The hallmark of situations […]

POOF!: $310,000 Attorney’s Fees Award Gets Reconsideration Mandate By Appellate Court After Reversing $600,000 Lost Profits Award To Plaintiffs

Cases: POOF!

Reconsideration Warranted Because This Was Bulk of Damages Award.      Our POOF! principle–that the reversal of a merits judgment often times results in reversal of a fees award–resurrected itself in the next case.      In Greenwich S.F., LLC v. Wong, Case Nos. A123670/A124882 (1st Dist., Div. 2 Dec. 2, 2010) (certified for publication), plaintiffs were

Requests For Admissions: $177,030.76 Cost of Proof Sanctions Goes POOF! When Court Of Appeal Finds That Only One Out Of 7 RFAs Was Material

Cases: POOF!, Cases: Requests for Admission

Matter Remanded To Decide Sanctions for One Germane RFA.      Appellate courts do scrutinize costs of proof sanctions under Code of Civil Procedure section 2033.420 carefully, as the next case demonstrates.      The trial court in Windward Capital Management Co. v. Christenson, Case No. B210898 (2d Dist., Div. 2 Oct. 13, 2010) (unpublished) imposed costs

Probate and POOF!: $13.364 Million Fee Award Against Trustee Under Probate Code Section 17211(b) Evaporates

Cases: POOF!, Cases: Probate

  Second District, Division 3 Finds Trustee Had Reasonable Cause to Contest Beneficiary Claims.      In our category “Probate,” we previously have examined Probate Code section 17211(b), which allows attorney’s fees to be awarded to a beneficiary contesting a trustee’s account if the lower court determines that the trustee’s opposition was made without “reasonable cause”

Federal POOF!: Ninth Circuit Determines Plaintiff Should Have Been Granted Summary Judgment, Reversing Substantial Fee Award To Defense

Cases: POOF!

$2.4 Million Fee Award Goes Away.      It is not often that we have a federal POOF! to share with you. However, here is a recent one.      In F.B.T. Productions, LLC v. Aftermath Records, Case Nos. 09-55817/09-5069 (9th Cir. Sept. 3, 2010) (for publication), plaintiff sued under contracts to recover a percentage of royalties

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