Cases: Prevailing Party

Rejecting Judicial Estoppel Argument, Former Attorneys Win Over $101,000 Fee/Costs Award from in Pro Per Plaintiff Client

Cases: Estoppel, Cases: Prevailing Party

Second District, Division Three Panel Rejects Judicial Estoppel, Self-Representation, and Third-Party Beneficiary Arguments Raised By Losing Client.             An attorney’s fees clause in a retainer agreement is a great equalizer in any litigation over the proper fee charged for services by former counsel.  An in pro per Client sued his Former Attorneys,

Lower Court Erroneously Awarded Default and Then Prevailing Party Status to Plaintiff Where Defendant Failed to Appear for Trial

Cases: Prevailing Party, Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes

Fourth District, Division Three Reverses $2,700 Fee Award As Without Basis.             The next case arose from a rather bizarre set of facts, showing fee awards will be withheld if the fee is awarded as an unwarranted penalty in the guise of a statutory fee award.             This legal

PLAINTIFF’S ASSIGNEE—A NONSIGNATORY TO A CONTRACT—AND ASSIGNOR—A CONTRACT SIGNATORY—BOTH HIT WITH $1.4 MILLION FEE AWARD AFTER DEFENDANT PREVAILS IN ASSIGNEE’S LITIGATION

Cases: Appealability, Cases: Assignment, Cases: Prevailing Party, Cases: Standard of Review

Second District Affirms Fee Award Against Both Assignor and Assignee Based on California Wholesale and the Assignor’s Surety Status.             One of the time-honored principles in assignment law is that assignee’s voluntary acceptance of benefits normally means consent to bear the burdens from the assignment.  Civil Code sec. 1589.   However, the assignor

LATE BREAKING NEWS—Lange v. Schilling, a Mediation Condition Precedent Case On Fee Recovery, Is Published by the Third District.

Cases: Mediation, Cases: Prevailing Party

Unpublished Decision in Our May 30, 2008 Post is Now Published.             In our May 30, 2008 post, we reported on Lange v. Schilling, Case No. C055471 (3d Dist. May 28, 2008), which strictly construed the CAR purchase agreement mediation clause.  Lange closely tracked the reasoning of Justice Fybel in Frei v.

SANTISAS REVISITED: NONSIGNATORIES TO A CONTRACT NOT SUBJECT TO FEE EXPOSURE FOR PRETRIAL VOLUNTARILY DISMISSAL OF THEIR ACTIONS.

Cases: Prevailing Party

Second District So Holds in Topanga and Fourth District, Division One Concurs in Its Unpublished Kilgore Decision.             In our Leading Case No. 6, Santisas v. Goodin, 17 Cal.4th 599, 615-617 (1998), the California Supreme Court determined that a pretrial voluntarily dismissal of a contract claim between two signatories prevents the dismissed

SECTION 998 DOES NOT CREATE AN INDEPENDENT RIGHT TO ATTORNEYS FEES; VOLUNTARY DISMISSAL OF CONTRACT CLAIM BEFORE TRIAL DEFEATED ANY 998 FEE SHIFTING

Cases: Prevailing Party, Cases: Section 998

Fourth District, Division One Harmonizes the Interplay Between Code of Civil Procedure section 998 and Civil Code section 1717(b)(2).             Recently, there has been a rash of decisions dealing with offers to compromise under Code of Civil Procedure section 998.  The next case resolves what happens when section 998 collides with Civil

LIS PENDENS WITHDRAWAL—YOU STILL MIGHT GET AWARDED ATTORNEYS’ FEES SHORT OF AN EXPUNGEMENT

Cases: Lis Pendens, Cases: Prevailing Party, Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes

Castro Holds That A Practical Prevailing Party Test Governs An Award of Fees When A Lis Pendens Is Withdrawn.         Code of Civil Procedure section 405.38 provides that the prevailing party on a motion to expunge a lis pendens is entitled to an award of reasonable attorney’s fees and costs in bringing or

COURT OF APPEAL REVERSES $440,000 ATTORNEY’S FEES AWARD WHERE LOWER COURT IMPROPERLY TRUNCATED REVIEW OF THE ENTIRE LITIGATION FOR PURPOSES OF ASCERTAINING THE “PREVAILING PARTY”

Cases: Prevailing Party

First District Overturns Substantial Fee Award Based on Misreading of Prior Appeal Decisions in the Same Case.             We have to hand it to Justice Simons of the First District, Division Five.  Faced with a complicated set of facts and a substantial fee winner, he—as author on behalf of a 3-0 panel—correctly

REDUX ON MEDIATION, PREVAILING PARTY, AND FEE SUBSTANTIATION PRINCIPLES IN RECENT UNPUBLISHED DECISION

Cases: Mediation, Cases: Prevailing Party, Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

Second District Affirms Fee Award and Review Principles We Have Previously Surveyed.         Once in a while, we all need refresher courses. That all holds true in the fee award area. The next case is just that—reviewing principles we have earlier discussed on mediation clauses, prevailing party status, and trial court review of

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