Excessiveness Challenge Rejected By Appellate Court. A party who was successfully dismissed as a proposed complainant in intervention, after two demurrers, was hit with a $204,637 fee award under Civil Code section 1717 based on a fees clause. The party was obviously upset, appealing the award as excessive. Not so, said the […]
60% Reduction by Trial Court Dispatched Inefficiency/Padding/Overcharge Challenges. In Fuentes v. Autozone, Inc., Case No. B224034 (2d Dist., Div. 4 Nov. 16, 2011) (certified for partial publication; fee discussion unpublished), plaintiff won a $160,000 FEHA damages award, with the lower court subsequently awarding attorney’s fees of $677,025 under the fee-shifting statute. In doing
Here is one demonstrating that appellate courts do not blindly rubber stamp trial court fee awards, simply because a side did prevail. Especially so, when there are multiple lawsuits being litigated and the winning attorney did not clearly apportion out work spent on a parallel, but legally unrelated, action involving the same clients.
Trial Court Discretion Is Broad on this Issue. Viney v. Grupp, Case Nos. A120208/120993 (1st Dist., Div. 4 Oct. 19, 2011) (unpublished) is a convoluted real property easement interference case–involving landlocked property–where one $240,000 fee award went POOF! based on a partial reversal of a damages issue (and appellate instructions that there might
Appellate Court Found Lower Court Correct to View L.A. Attorneys As Within San Bernardino Venue and Necessary Given Earlier Misfortunes with Local Attorneys. Trealoff v. Forest River, Inc., Case No. E048818 (4th Dist., Div. 2 Oct. 6, 2011) (unpublished) was a case where an ex-employee won sizable jury verdicts, including punitive damages, for
She Lost Elder Abuse Claim by Plaintiff and Did Not Prevail on Her Frivolous FEHA Sexual Harassment Cross-claim. Bad facts can result in large jury verdicts; they also tend to guide the dispositon of the trial judge when it comes to awarding attorney’s fees against the non-prevailing litigant. That is what happened in
$50,000 Award Out of $176,406 Request Sustained. Partial success, in the next case we discuss being a plaintiff who obtained a $21,600 damages award after seeking around $170,000, can lead indeed to a reduced fee award. Winning plaintiff sought Civil Code section 1717 fees of $176,406 even though he only won under
Fifth District Finds Nothing Wrong in Substantial Fee Award. Hopper Properties v. Payless Shoesource, Inc., Case No. F060235 (5th Dist. July 7, 2011) (unpublished) involved interesting facts and a substantial fee award affirmed on appeal. Owner/landlord Hopper and tenant Payless settled with a six-year-old boy who was bitten by a bat inside
Choice of Law–California Law Applies Across the Board If It Is the Governing Choice of Law on Fee Issues. In our prior posts of June 11, 2008 and January 21, 2010, we discussed decisions indicating that Civil Code section 1717’s reciprocity principle is a fundamental California interest trumping unilateral fee clauses governed by
$23,600 Fee Award Out of Requested $223,615.50 Reversed in Civil Rights Case. In Williams v. Hei Long Beach, LLC, Case No. B224211 (2d Dist., Div. 2 May 31, 2011) (unpublished), the appellate court reversed a fee award of $23,600 out of attorneys’ requested $223,615.50 in an Unruh Civil Rights hotel accommodation case resulting
