Cases: Prevailing Party

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 A146999/A148407 (1st Dist., Div. 5 Dec. 19, 2017) (unpublished), alter ego defendants (Individual Defendants) for developers were dismissed on a directed verdict after alter ego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

Homeowners Association, Family Law, Prevailing Party:  Appellate Courts Deal With Trifecta Of Fees Issues In Unpublished November 9 Opinions

Cases: Family Law, Cases: Homeowner Associations, Cases: Prevailing Party

Homeowners Association—Anaheim Hills Planned Community Assn. v. Chen, Case No. G053128 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Nov. 9, 2017) (Unpublished).             In this first one, homeowner appealed a trial court’s award of appellate fees to HOA in a CC&R dispute under both a prior settlement agreement and the Davis-Stirling Act.  The appellate fee award of $36,830.50

Prevailing Party:  Plaintiff Voluntarily Dismissing Contractual Claims After Loss Of Some Defense In Limine Motions Not Entitled To Recovery Of Section 1717 Fees

Cases: Prevailing Party

$240,731 Fee Award Reversed As A Matter Of Law, Because Not Dispositive Stage Ruling Had Occurred.             “Prevailing party” determinations under Santisas v. Goodin, 17 Cal.4th 599, 617 (1998) [one of our Leading Cases] are especially subject to de novo review given that the facts frequently are undisputed and only legal issues are presented for

Prevailing Party:  City of West Hollywood v. Kihagi Decision Now Published

Cases: Cases Under Review, Cases: Prevailing Party

Attorney’s Fees Reversed Where Permanent Injunction Overturned Such That Prevailing Party Determination Was Premature.             On October 1, 2017, we posted on City of West Hollywood v. Kihagi, an appellate decision which was unpublished at the time.  It reversed a fees award to a prevailing party because a permanent injunction was reversed such that prevailing

Allocation/Prevailing Party:  Trial Judge Erred By Awarding “Full Boat” Requested Fees To Plaintiff/Cross-Defendant Where Record Did Not Show That It Necessarily Prevailed

Cases: Allocation, Cases: Prevailing Party

On Remand, Prevailing Party Determination Needs To Be Revisited As Well As Apportionment Issues. Sequoia Lake, 1920s.  Online Archive of California.             Central Valley Young Men’s Christian Association, Inc. v. The Sequoia Lake Conference of Young Men’s Christian Associations, Case No. F072379 (5th Dist. Oct. 3, 2017) (unpublished) was an interesting YMCA inter-organizational battle about

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