Cases: Prevailing Party

Costs/Prevailing Party: Parsons Was Prevailing Party In Qui Tam Action So As To Be Entitled To Routine And Expert Witness Costs Awardable Against MTA

Cases: Costs, Cases: Prevailing Party

Prior Settlement Agreement Between Parties Did Not Preclude Later Costs Award.             In L.A. County MTA v. Parsons-Dillingham Metro Rail, Case No. B265863 (2d Dist., Div. 7 Feb. 26, 2018) (unpublished), Parsons was the prevailing party under a false claims count in a qui tam action.  Earlier, Parsons and MTA had reached a settlement agreement […]

Prevailing Party:  Trial Judge’s Decision That City Prevailed For Fee Purposes Was Sustained On Appeal

Cases: Prevailing Party

City Won Less Than 4% Of Pled Damages Against Guarantor And Only 22% Of Past Due Amounts Claimed At Trial, Garnering $100,152 In Fees Under Guaranty Fees Clause.             City of Dinuba v. Thusu, Case No. F073781 (5th Dist. Feb. 20, 2018) (unpublished) demonstrates how deferential the “prevailing party” status determination can be under Civil

Homeowner Associations/Prevailing Party:  Mixed Results In Transfer Fee Litigation Means No One Obtained Fees Or Costs

Cases: Homeowner Associations, Cases: Prevailing Party

Gotta Look At The Big Picture, Appellate Court Reminds Us On Prevailing Party Status.             Marina Pacifica Homeowners Assn. v. Southern California Financial Corp., Case No. B276719 (2d Dist., Div. 8 Feb. 5, 2018) (published) was hard fought litigation over the validity and timing of an assignment/transfer fee.  In the end, the trial court—after bifurcating

Prevailing Party:  Elder Abuse Guardian Ad Litem Was Not “Party” Subject To Welfare And Institutions Code Fee-Shifting Statute

Cases: Prevailing Party

Guardian Ad Litem Is Not Technically A Party To An Action.             In Albrecht v. Pearson, Case No. B281720 (2d Dist., Div. 1 Jan. 30, 2018) (unpublished), a person appointed as an elder’s guardian ad litem lost a restraining order and was ordered to pay attorney’s fees and costs under Welfare and Institutions Code section

Homeowner Associations/Prevailing Party:  Homeowner’s Interim Preliminary Injunction Success, Although Ultimately Losing On The Merits, Did Not Make Her Prevailing Party Under Davis-Stirling Fee-Shifting Provision

Cases: Homeowner Associations, Cases: Prevailing Party

Analogy To California Homeowner ‘s Bill Of Rights Fee-Shifting Scheme Unavailing On Appeal.             In Artus v. Gramercy Towers Condominium Assn., Case No. A147297 (1st Dist., Div. 1 Jan. 24, 2018) (published), plaintiff homeowner sued HOA claiming it illegally failed to enforce cumulative voting standards under governing documents.  The trial court granted homeowner a preliminary

Allocation, Prevailing Party, Reasonableness Of Fees:  $32,133.50 Fee Award Arising Out Of Plaintiff’s $5,159.77 Easement Dispute Victory Affirmed On Appeal

Cases: Allocation, Cases: Prevailing Party, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees

Fees Were Reasonable, Plaintiffs Were Successful, And No Apportionment Required.             Neighbors, which happens more frequently than one might suppose, got into a dispute over a negative easement involving an excavation ban within 10 feet of the base of certain trees along their shared property, with the dispute based upon a settlement agreement in Biggs

Prevailing Party/Section 1717:  There Can Be Dual “Prevailing Parties” In Contractual Dispute.

Cases: Prevailing Party, Cases: Section 1717

Prevailing Alter Ego Defendant Entitled To Fee Recovery, Despite Fact That Plaintiff Prevailed Against LLP Defendant.             What happened in Burkhalter Kessler Clement & George LLP v. Hamilton, Case No. G054337 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Jan. 8, 2018) (published) is that plaintiff prevailed in a sublease dispute against an LLP defendant but did not prevail

Prevailing Party:  Individual Defendants, Alleged To Be Alter Egos But Dismissed Without Prejudice, Were Properly Not Awarded Attorney’s Fees In Construction Dispute

Cases: Prevailing Party

Individual Defendants Did Not Gain Their Main Litigation Objective, Given No Adjudication Of Alter Egos Issues Too Boot.             In Fedco Construction, Inc. v. International Fidelity Ins. Co., Case Nos. A146999/A148407 (1st Dist., Div. 5 Dec. 19, 2017) (unpublished), alter ego defendants (Individual Defendants) for developers were dismissed on a directed verdict after alter ego

Prevailing Party:  Plaintiff Awarded $10,000 Out Of Requested $46,600 Compensatory Damages Was Properly Denied Fee Recovery Under Civil Code Section 1717

Cases: Prevailing Party

Trial Court Had Discretion In Making Prevailing Party Determination, And Did Not Abuse It.             Unless you get an outright victory under Civil Code section 1717, the trial judge has discretion to determine if a party prevailed for purposes of fee recovery.  The trial judge determined that, although plaintiff did get affirmative recovery, the plaintiff

Prevailing Party/Section 1717:  Appellate Reversal And Remand Of Some Claims Also Required Reversal Of Fee Award

Cases: Prevailing Party, Cases: Section 1717

Award Was Predicated On A Victory Over All Claims, But Fee Awards Have To Await A Final Resolution.             A reversal of a merits judgment usually means an ensuing fee award also falls for the time being.  This result occurs because a prevailing party determination under Civil Code section 1717 must await a final resolution

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