Cases: Prevailing Party – Page 37

Section 1717: Borrower Prevailing On Demurrer Sustained Without Leave Is Prevailing Party Despite Lender’s After-the-Fact With Prejudice Dismissal In The Wake Of A Fee Motion

April 11, 2012

Case Proceeded to a Determinative Stage, So Fees Were Recoverable In Order to Prevent Procedural Gamesmanship. The problem here was that the demurrer without leave ruling was a “determinative adjudication” that could not be undone by a dismissal, whether with or without prejudice. (Goldtree v. Spreckels, 135 Cal. 666, 672-673 (1902); Wells v. […]

Allocation/Prevailing Party: Parties Winning Only $22,000 Garner $155,807 In Civil Code Section 1717 Fees

April 1, 2012

$22,000 Winner Obtained Fees Despite Not Obtaining Over $716,000 in Sought-After Damages. Where no party under Civil Code section 1717 is a clear winner, the court has discretion to determine the prevailing party. That principle was at play in the next opinion, even though the prevailing parties only won 3% of the total

Prevailing Party/Section 1717: LLC Member Defensing Easement Dispute Was Clear Winner Entitled To Fees

Cases: Prevailing Party, Cases: Section 1717

March 14, 2012

Appellate Court Reversed Trial Court Fee Denial, Finding Unity of Interest Rule Only Applied to Costs, Not Fee Awards. Hill v. Affirmed Housing Group, Case No. H035541 (6th Dist. Mar. 12, 2012) (unpublished) is a situation where trustees of a trust sued an LLC and its managing member on the theory that LLC’s

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

March 6, 2012

$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 Goradia v. Vega, Case No. B228128 (2d Dist., Div. 2 Mar. 5, 2012) (unpublished) again demonstrates that the “prevailing party” determination under Civil Code section 1717 is a pragmatic one, with trial and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

February 28, 2012

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 Sadr & Barrera, APLC v. Cyriacks, Case No. D058417 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Feb. 28, 2012) (unpublished) is a situation where an appellate court reversed a Civil Code section 1717 attorney’s fees award to a default judgment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

February 27, 2012

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

February 14, 2012

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

February 10, 2012

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

February 8, 2012

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

January 25, 2012

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