Cases: Section 1717

Paralegals/Reasonableness Of Fees/Section 1717: Plaintiffs Not Prevailing On Purchase Deposit Retention Dispute Were Correctly Hit With $1,146,682 In Fee Exposure

Cases: Paralegal Time, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees, Cases: Section 1717

  Fee Clause Was Broad, But Lower Court Correctly Reduced Paralegal Hourly Rates—Finding $330 Per Hour Too High.      Royalty Alliance, Inc. v. Tarsadia Hotels, Case Nos. D062537/D063402 (4th Dist., Div. 1 May 29, 2014) (unpublished) was a case where plaintiffs lost summary judgment motions challenging a developer’s retention of purchase deposits under various theories, […]

Allocation/Reasonableness Of Fees/Section 998/Section 1717: $327,553 Fee Award To Plaintiff Residential Tract Developer, Which Won $126,818.62 At Trial, Sustained Under Broad Contractual Fees Clause

Cases: Allocation, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees, Cases: Section 1717, Cases: Section 998

  Section 998 Calculation of Preoffer Fees/Costs Sealed the Result.      Frontier Land Companies v. Jeld-Wen, Inc., Case No. C064351 (3d Dist. May 22, 2014) (unpublished) is a case involving contractual/indemnity claims by plaintiff residential home builder against defendant window/door subcontractor. At trial, plaintiff claimed damages of $245,066.82, but the defense countered damages were at

Allocation/Section 1717: No Apportionment Of $40,630.25 Fee Award Required Where Defensive Work Was Intertwined With Future Cross-Complaint Work

Cases: Allocation, Cases: Section 1717

  Fee Award Followed $201,495.14 Damages Award To Former Client of Co-Contributor Mike.      For you car buffs, Canepa Design v. Mazzotta, Case No. H038631 (6th Dist. May 20, 2014) (unpublished) is a good read about a dispute over delivery of a 1958 Porsche Carrera GT, mainly focusing on whether it needed a properly functioning

Arbitration/Indemnity/Section 1717: Individual Deleted From Arbitration Properly Denied Requested Fees Of $109,000 And Requested Costs Of $10,700

Cases: Arbitration, Cases: Indemnity, Cases: Section 1717

  No Clear Fee Entitlement In This One.      Individual who was deleted from an arbitration award, because he was neither served nor consented to an arbitration, was frustrated because the lower court denied him fees under an arbitration agreement provision and AAA Rules in Fujian Peak Group, Inc. v. Huang, Case No. D063296 (4th

Prevailing Party/Section 1717: Respondent Winning “Broom Clean” Property Vacation Dispute Garners Fee Award As Prevailing Party

Cases: Prevailing Party, Cases: Section 1717

  Respondent Satisfied Pragmatic Test for Prevailing under 1717.      In Adelman v. Adelman, Case No. B248303 (2d Dist., Div. 4 May 13, 2014) (unpublished), respondent was awarded fees after successfully litigating the issue of whether appellant vacated a property and left it in “broom clean” condition. Respondent proved that she had to incur clean-up

Arbitration Under MFAA/Section 1717: $56,350 Fee Recovery Based Under MFAA And Section 1717 Affirmed In Favor Of Attorney Successfully Suing To Collect Receivable

Cases: Arbitration, Cases: Section 1717

  Trope Prohibition Not in Play Because Suing Attorneys Used Independent Contractors, Not Associates, to Prosecute Case.      The opinion in Rothman v. Deshay, Case No. B245075 (2d Dist., Div. 4 May 13, 2014) (unpublished) gives guidance on how attorneys prosecuting or defending themselves in litigation can use other attorneys and avoid the Trope prohibition

Lodestar/Probate/Section 1717/Substantiation Of Fees: Court Affirms Fee Award On Fiduciary Duty Claims As Arising On Contract, Denies Fee Request Against Trustee Whose Opposition Was Not Frivolous, And Remands Lodestar Calculation

Cases: Lodestar, Cases: Probate, Cases: Section 1717, Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

Looks Like Decades Trust Disputes Are Drawing To An End.      Holt v. Denholm, Case Nos. G045496 and G046293 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Apr. 28, 2014) (unpublished)—both authored by Presiding Justice O’Leary–are two appeals involving cross-over probate and Civil Code section 1717 issues in a long-running battle between different sides of a family trust—pitting a

Fee Clause Interpretation/Section 1717: Party Under Merger Agreement Was Not Entitled To Fees Against Losing Party Under Separate Agreement (Not The Merger Agreement) With No Fees Clause Or Third Party Beneficiary Status

Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation, Cases: Section 1717

  Agreements Were Unambiguous, Not Allowing For Fee Recovery.      Where contracts with no extrinsic conflicts are involved, appellate courts will construe agreements by their terms—no fees clause, no fee recovery..      That is what happened in Sznyter v. Spun.com, Inc., Case No. D061832 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Apr. 25, 2014) (unpublished).      The basics

Allocation/Section 1717/Substantiating Reasonableness Of Fees: Realtor/Broker Defensing Sellers’ Tort Claims And Winning Broker Compensation Cross-Claim Gets Contractual Fees Against Real Estate Plaintiffs/Sellers

Cases: Allocation, Cases: Section 1717, Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

  Not Every Attorney Must Attest to Substantiation of Hours in Fee Petition.      In Anelle v. Tran, Case No. G048072 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Apr. 15, 2014) (unpublished), realtor/broker defendants defensed plaintiffs/sellers’ tort claims from a failed real estate transaction and also recovered listing compensation on a cross-claim where the listing agreement did contain

Allocation/Estoppel/Fee Clause Interpretation/Section 1717/Reasonableness Of Fees: Real Estate Buyer’s Tort Claims Did Not Give Rise To Fee Exposure Under Narrowly-Worded Fees Clause

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

  However, Sellers Were Liable To Third-Party For Losing Their Contractual/Indemnity Claims, Which Were Intertwined And Needed No Apportionment.      Real estate buyer lost tort/statutorily-based nondisclosure claims to the sellers in a dispute where a purchase agreement had a fees clause mandating fees in an action brought “with respect to the subject matter of enforcement

Scroll to Top