Affirmance of Commission Merits Dispute Meant Fee Award Sustained Against Real Estate Agent. In Aliev v. Courtney, Case No. D064239 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Nov. 24, 2015) (unpublished), plaintiff real estate purchaser challenged a commission paid to defendant salesperson, who eventually had to admit on appeal that neither he nor the brokerage company […]
Striking Fees Was Not Discrete Proceeding Allowing For Recovery. In Cooper v. Lavely & Singer, Case No. B261936 (2d Dist., Div. 4 Oct. 22, 2015) (unpublished), L&S won the merits of an arbitration case, but Cooper was successful in striking an arbitrator fee award in post-confirmation proceedings although the rest of the merits
Routine Costs Do Include Privately Retained Reporters Who Transcribe Court Hearings. In Kim v. Park, Case No. A139056 (1st Dist., Div. 3 Oct. 23, 2015) (unpublished), plaintiff was awarded $107,450 in fees and $22,318.45 in costs after obtaining rescission of a purchase of a business, with the fees being awarded based on a
Net Fee Award To Plaintiff Was $3,709.19, Because She Won (Getting Fees) and Employer Won (Getting Fees). Sharif v. Mehusa, Inc., Case No. B255578 (2d Dist., Div. 5 Oct. 14, 2015) (partially published) is an interesting decision which recognizes two things: (1) fee recovery can be determined after offsetting “dueling” fee-shifting statutes; and
Although Fees Are Mandatory, Prevailing Party Determination Is Threshold Call For Trial Judge Under Prompt Payment Statutes. James L. Harris Printing & Decorating, Inc. v. West Bay Builders, Inc., Case No. C072169 (3d Dist. Aug. 27, 2015) (published) was dealing with fee-shifting provisions in some prompt payment statutes, specifically, Business and Professions Code
This Is An Update For Our December 20, 2014 Post On An Unpublished Appellate Decision. On December 30, 2014, we posted on Paletz v. Adaya, a Second District, Division 3 unpublished decision affirming most of a substantial attorney’s fees award of $2.1 million in favor of plaintiffs, except for a minor reallocation issue
Fees On Legal Malpractice For Former Attorneys Are $659,047 And Cross-Claims Recovery Is $227,420. In a case where “[t]he facts underlying this appeal are much more interesting than most facts we see on appeal,” the appellate court in Chapman v. Bollard, Case No. G049579 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Aug. 11, 2015) (unpublished) confronted
Appeal Did Not Stay Anything, And Cross-Complaint Did Not Matter. In Mother Lode Bank v. Sloan, Case No. F068840 (5th Dist. July 28, 2015) (unpublished), borrower defaulted on bank loans after 7 extensions over a two- year period. Bank won a summary judgment on its judicial foreclosure complaint, being awarded some attorney’s fees
Trial Court Did Not Abuse Discretion In Fee Award On Remand From Prior Appeal. Barham Construction, Inc. v. City of Riverbank, Case Nos. F068373/F068914 (5th Dist. July 21, 2015) (unpublished) involved a situation where a general contractor for a skate project in Riverbank won a prior trial, with City being held responsible for
They Did Get $76,000 In Fees And $16,961 In Costs, But Not Anything More—Plaintiffs’ Behavior In Settlement Negotiations Found To Be Irrelevant For Fixing 1717 Fees. Some of the gnarly cases involve those where there is no “unqualified winner” under Civil Code section 1717 as far as fees (although a winner for routine
