Cases: Private Attorney General (CCP 1021.5)

Private Attorney General: Where Petitioner Had Limited Success And Lost Its Primary Litigation Objectives In CEQA Action, Lower Court Did Not Err In Reducing Requested Fees By About 90% And Denying A Positive Multiplier Request For One Firm’s Work

Cases: Private Attorney General (CCP 1021.5)

$37,346.30 Was The Fee Award From The $225,683 Lodestar Request Plus 1.5 Multiplier For One Component Of The Fee Request.             Limited success and excessive fee requests, even in a CEQA context, confer considerable discretion on a lower court to fashion an appropriate fee award under California’s private attorney general statute.  These factors led to […]

Private Attorney General: $32,496.75 CCP § 1021.5 Fee Request Against County Clerk And Real Party In Interest (RIP) Properly Denied Because They Were Not “Opposing Parties” And No Private Enforcement Necessity Was Present

Cases: Private Attorney General (CCP 1021.5)

A Dissenting Justice Believed RIP Was An “Opposing Party,” And Would Have Remanded To The Lower Court To Assess If Other Elements Of Section 1021.5 Were Satisfied.             In Holloway v. Wylie, Case No. H050376 (6th Dist. Sept. 12, 2023) (unpublished), petitioner prevailed on an unopposed mandate petition to delete from a voter information guide

Private Attorney General: Denial of CCP § 1021.5 Fees To Prevailing Short-Term Rental Plaintiff Justified On Appeal

Cases: Private Attorney General (CCP 1021.5)

Plaintiff Did Not Satisfy The Financial Incentive Statute Standards—Too Much Skin In The Game.             In Keen v. City of Manhattan Beach, Case No. B314744 (2d Dist., Div. 8 Aug. 15, 2023) (unpublished), plaintiff won a short-term rental dispute against the Manhattan Beach, but lost a remand request for attorney’s fees under the private attorney

Private Attorney General: $38,733.75 Fee Award Under CCP § 1021.5 To Mobile Home Park HOA And Against Mobile Home Park Owner Was Affirmed On Appeal

Cases: Private Attorney General (CCP 1021.5)

HOA Was Dismissed On County’s Demurrer Such That It Was Successful, Vindicating A Broader Interest Of Mobile Home Park Residents Throughout The County Because They Needed To Be Part Of The Mobile Park Owner’s Judicial Writ Proceeding Case.             In Pinto Lake M.H.P., LLC v. County of Santa Cruz, Case No. H050374 (6th Dist. July

Costs, Private Attorney General: In Case Involving Extension Of 241 Toll Road Near San Clemente, 4/2 DCA Affirms Denial Of 1021.5 Fees To HOA, Reverses And Remands Denial Of Fees To Environmental Parties, And Affirms Award Of Costs Against HOA

Cases: Costs, Cases: Private Attorney General (CCP 1021.5)

Lots Of Moving Parts Here, But The Remand For Environmental Parties Is Not An Automatic Endorsement Of Receiving 1021.5 Fees.             City of San Clemente v. Department of Transportation et al., Case No. E077153 (4th Dist., Div. 2 June 29, 2023) (published) arose out of the Corridor Agency’s approved extension of State Route 241 (known

Private Attorney General: One Intervenor Garners $143,555 In CCP § 1021.5 Fees, While Another Intervenor Not Having A Direct Interest Properly Denied 1021.5 Fee Recovery

Cases: Private Attorney General (CCP 1021.5)

First Intervenor’s Fee Award, However, Was One With A 75% Lodestar Reduction.             In City of Huntington Beach v. State of California, Case No. G061184 (4th Dist., Div. 3 June 14, 2023) (unpublished), Huntington Beach lost a constitutional challenge in a mandamus proceeding with the State of California over a series of laws affecting a

Private Attorney General: CCP § 1021.5 Award To Minor’s Parents For Obtaining Removal From Civil Abuse Central Index Reversed As A Matter Of Law

Cases: Private Attorney General (CCP 1021.5)

The Matter Only Really Impacted The Parents Themselves, Not A Larger Class Of Persons.             In Ford v. Stanislaus County, Case No. F083828/F084205 (5th Dist. June 2, 2023) (unpublished), minor’s parents obtained writ relief by which their names were removed from the Civil Abuse Central Index after they were found not to be the perpetrator

Civil Rights, Private Attorney General: On Remand From The California Supreme Court, Court Of Appeal Denies Attorney’s Fees To Prevailing Party Under The Political Reform Act And Under A Separate Private Attorney General Theory

Cases: Civil Rights, Cases: Private Attorney General (CCP 1021.5)

Plaintiff’s Suit Was Not Frivolous Under Political Reform Act, With Defendants Not Showing An Important Right/Significant Benefit Were Vindicated Under CCP § 1021.5.             In Travis v. Brand, Case No. B298104 (2d Dist., Div. 8 May 19, 2023) (published), the 2/8 DCA had to consider whether prevailing defendants were entitled to attorney’s fees under the

Private Attorney General: $3,531,201.10 Attorney’s Fees Award To Plaintiff Successfully Being A Catalyst On Low-Income Housing Issue Was Affirmed On Appeal

Cases: Private Attorney General (CCP 1021.5)

Decision Shows The Proper Way For A Plaintiff To Show It Was A Catalyst And To Substantiate Its Fee Request With Great Detail Before The Trial Judge.             For public interest and governmental lawyers, The Kennedy Comm’n v. City of Huntington Beach, Case Nos. E078403 et al. (4th Dist., Div. 2 May 11, 2023) (published)

Private Attorney General: Denial Of Fee Award Based On Significant Benefit Prong Was Erroneous As A Matter Of Law

Cases: Private Attorney General (CCP 1021.5)

Plaintiff Was Entitled To A 1021.5 Award, But Amount Will Be Determined On Remand.             In an earlier appeal, plaintiff had obtained a published opinion reversing her denial of a petition seeking public disability retirement benefits based on symptoms caused by her office environment, involving interpretation of provisions under the Public Employees’ Retirement Law (PERL). 

Scroll to Top