Cases: Prevailing Party

Allocation/Deeds Of Trust/Prevailing Party: Real Estate Seller Lienholders Did Prevail Ultimately In Judicial Foreclosure/Accounting Actions

Cases: Allocation, Cases: Deeds of Trust, Cases: Prevailing Party

  $332,697.80 Fee Award Resulted From Fee Clauses In Trust Deed/Promissory Note For 5 Year Old-Plus Litigation Over Sellers’ Carryback Loan.      Goradia v. Vega, Case No. B228128 (2d Dist., Div. 2 Mar. 5, 2012) (unpublished) again demonstrates that the “prevailing party” determination under Civil Code section 1717 is a pragmatic one, with trial and […]

Prevailing Party: Trope Prohibition Resulted In Reversal Of $11,115.50 Fee Award In Default Judgment Proceeding

Cases: Prevailing Party

  Court of Appeal Also Chastised Respondent For Relying on Non-California Authorities in Attempting to Sustain Result.      Sadr & Barrera, APLC v. Cyriacks, Case No. D058417 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Feb. 28, 2012) (unpublished) is a situation where an appellate court reversed a Civil Code section 1717 attorney’s fees award to a default judgment

Prevailing Party/Section 1717: Tenant Bank’s Summary Judgment Win In Unlawful Detainer Action Entitled It To Fee Recovery Under Civ. Code § 1717

Cases: Prevailing Party, Cases: Section 1717

  Trial Court’s Denial of Fees Reversed Because Bank Was Prevailing Party.      Meeker v. Bank of America, N.A., Case No. B225289 (2d Dist., Div. 7 Feb. 26, 2012) (unpublished) illustrates that Civil Code section 1717’s mandate of awarding attorney’s fees to a prevailing party is indeed obligatory in nature, and that fee award denials–even

Section 998/Section 1717: Plaintiff, Although Not Prevailing Under Section 1717, Did Beat Its Statutory Pretrial Settlement Offer Such That It Was Entitled to Postoffer Attorney’s Fees As 998 Costs From The Defense

Cases: Prevailing Party, Cases: Section 1717, Cases: Section 998

  Opinion Will Give Added Importance to Section 998 Costs(Fee)-Shifting.      Well, well, we can report that there has been an interesting appellate “explosion” of opinions in the Code of Civil Procedure section 998 area. The First District, Division 5, has entered into the fray.      In SCI California Funeral Services, Inc. v. Five Bridges

Prevailing Party/Section 1717: Parties Not Prevailing On Dueling Contractual Claims Also Not Entitled To Contractual Fee Recovery

Cases: Prevailing Party, Cases: Section 1717

  No One Got A Clear Win, So Go Your Own Way, Says Appellate Court in Much More Eloquent Fashion.      Under Civil Code section 1717, ya gotta prevail–and that is a pragmatic determination, which means ya gotta be a clear winner (not just a contender). In the next case, both plaintiff and cross-complainant did

Prevailing Party: Trust Was Entitled To Fee Recovery Under Fees Clause, Even Though It May Not Have Been So Entitled Under Elder Abuse Fee-Shifting Statutes

Cases: Prevailing Party

  Case Demonstrates Trial Court Decisions Will Be Sustained on Any Right Ground Existing in the Record.      In Nesbitt v. Emmanuel, Case No. B224521 (2d Dist., Div. 4 Feb. 7, 2012) (unpublished), the trial court awarded both compensatory and punitive damages under the financial elder abuse statutes to a trust. It also awarded attorney’s

Costs/Prevailing Party: Defendant Obtaining Dismissal After TRO Grant/Preliminary Injunction Denial Was Prevailing Party For Costs Award

Cases: Costs, Cases: Prevailing Party

  Plaintiffs’ Dismissal Cemented Costs Entitlement.      Although coming about in convoluted fashion, defendant was awarded certain costs in an adjacent neighbor tree dispute where plaintiffs won a temporary restraining order but defendant voluntarily made some construction changes so that a preliminary injunction was ultimately denied. Plaintiffs then dismissed their action without prejudice. The trial

Prevailing Party: Party Obtaining Dismissal For Other Side’s Violation Of Five-Year-to-Trial Rule Does Prevail Under Civil Code Section 1717 For Fee Recovery Purposes

Cases: Prevailing Party

  Decision Is Also a Cautionary Tale on Stipulations to Extend the Five Years To Another Date Certain.      The Third District in City of Stockton v. Central San Joaquin Water Conservation Dist., Case No. C063824 (3d Dist. Jan. 11, 2012) (unpublished) is a situation where litigants stipulated to an extension of the five-year-to-trial limit

Prevailing Party POOF!: Reversal of Successful Cross-Complaint Demurrer Ruling Meant Prevailing Party Fee/Costs Awards Went POOF!

Cases: POOF!, Cases: Prevailing Party

  Substantial Awards Were Reversed.      As Justice O’Leary of our local Santa Ana court reminds us, reversal of a successful cross-complaint demurrer ruling (including a ruling on contractual claims) also means that the subsequent prevailing party determination goes POOF! also. The reason is that the contracts are still being litigated, and the prevailing party

Year in Review – 2011

Cases: Civil Rights, Cases: Estoppel, Cases: Family Law, Cases: Pleading, Cases: Prevailing Party, Cases: Section 1717, Cases: Section 998, Year in Review

Wrapping It Up:  M & M’s Top 25 Attorney’s Fees Decisions For 2011  Part 1 of 2      It is that time of year, at year end, for us to list our top published attorney’s fees decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and California Courts of Appeal. Although we normally

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