Cases: Reasonableness of Fees

Reasonableness Of Fees: Trial Court’s Failure To Consider All Lodestar Work Efforts Required A Reexamination In Heavily Contested Unlawful Detainer Matter

Cases: Reasonableness of Fees

  Award Of $23,800 Out Of Requested $185,897 Was An Abuse Of Discretion Under The Circumstances.     Lots of practitioners may assume that the amount of a fee award is impervious to appellate attack under the abuse of discretion standards.  This next case may temper that impulsive reaction:  the circumstances may well dictate otherwise.     […]

Substantiation Of Reasonableness Of Fees/Reasonableness Of Fees: Two Unpublished Decisions Offer Good Roadmaps On How To Structure And Amend Fee Petition For Success, Where Appellate Court Sustained Substantial Fee Awards

Cases: Reasonableness of Fees, Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

  Salameh v. 5th and K Master Assn., Inc., Case No. D067232 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Aug. 30, 2016) (Unpublished): $4.88 Million In Aggregate Fee Awards Upheld On Appeal.      This involved hotel unit condo owners’ over 3-year battle against the HOA and various management entities in which owners sought over $64 million for overcharging

Civil Rights/Reasonableness Of Fees: Trial Court Correctly Awarded $116,925 In Fees Out Of Requested $421,130 In FEHA Age Harassment Win For Plaintiff

Cases: Civil Rights, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees

  Reduction Justified Because Case Was Not Extraordinary.     In Moran v. Forever 21 Logistics, LLC, Case No. B265988 (2d Dist., Div. 5 Aug. 15, 2016) (unpublished), plaintiff won a $199,000 damages award on age harassment/discrimination claims and sought $421,130 in attorney’s fees (inclusive of a 1.5 multiplier) under FEHA’s discretionary fee-shifting statute.  The trial

Landlord/Tenant And Reasonableness Of Fees: Several Tenants Winning Harassment Suit Against Landlord Get Sizable $845,351.25 In Fee Recovery

Cases: Landlord/Tenant, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees

    L.A. Municipal Code And Statutory Inhabitability Breach Fee-Shifting Statute Were The Bases.                                                                Above:  Library of Congress.  Snodgrass common household roaches.  Public domain.      In Vaughn v. Darwish, Case No. B252762 (2d Dist., Div. 2 July 6, 2016) (unpublished), tenants won a harassment case against landlord, among other things involving the

Employment/Reasonableness Of Fees: Plaintiff Winning About $90,000 In Wage Overtime Case Gains $212,958.50 Fee Recovery

Cases: Employment, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees

  Plaintiff Did Request $526,034.50 Base Fees Plus $60.060 “Fees On Fees.”      The trial judge, after allowing supplemental briefing and carefully weighing lots of fee substantiation, decided to award a winning overtime wage hour plaintiff, who recovered a little short of $90,000 in compensatory damages, attorney’s fees of $212,958.50. However, plaintiff appealed because her

Fee Clause Interpretation, Reasonableness Of Fees, Section 1717: $239K Fee Recovery Under Broad Contractual Fees Clause Sustained, Except For $4.4K Modification Beyond Prevailing Party’s Request Which Was Deleted On Appeal

Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees, Cases: Section 1717

  Technical Challenges To Fee Award Did Not Work.     In Vilela v. Rodriguez, Case No. B262442 (2d Dist., Div. 6 June 22, 2016) (unpublished), plaintiff lost a case against various defendants on both torts and a declaratory relief count, with a fees clause in a subscription agreement broadly covering fees “in defending against an

Reasonableness Of Fees 3-Fer: Fee Recovery Sustained In Landlord-Tenant, Family Law, And Appeal/Class Action Cases Based On Waiver, Failure To Provide Adequate Record, And Failure To Beat Abuse Of Discretion Standard On Amounts Awarded

Cases: Class Actions, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees, Cases: Record, Cases: Standard of Review

  Landlord/Tenant:  Sevier v. Ghannoura, Case No. B259542 (2d Dist., Div. 4 Mar. 22, 2016) (Unpublished).     Tenant won compensatory damages of $21,865 against landlords for illegal entry into common areas of a rental apartment without proper notice.  There was a fees clause, requiring mediation as a condition precedent, but tenant satisfied that by requesting

Reasonableness Of Fees/Special Fee Shifting Statute: IDEA Fee Award Of $7,780 Rather Than Requested $66,420 Affirmed On Appeal

Cases: Reasonableness of Fees, Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes

  Rejected Settlement Did Not Justify Post-Settlement Fees, Hourly Rate Reduction Justified, and Prior Consultant Determination Prevented Paralegal Fee Award.      Under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (“IDEA”), attorney’s fees are awardable to prevailing plaintiffs, generally the parents of a child with a disability, in the discretion of the district court. But there

Lodestar/Reasonableness Of Fees: Trial Judge’s 70% Across-The-Board Reduction In All Hours Rather Than Just Flawed Hours Was Arbitrary And “Swept Too Broadly”

Cases: Lodestar, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees

  Fee Award of $59,334.60 Out Of Requested $308,425 Was Too Drastic Based On Using Improper Fee Reduction Methodology.     Haircut.  Marion Post Wolcott, photographer.  Sept. 1938.  Library of Congress.      In the last few months, we posted on some fees cases—most notably Kerkeles (see our December 20, 2015 post)—where appellate courts have reversed decisions

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