However, Award Againt Nonsignatory Reversed. We have done numerous posts over the last 3 plus years on attorney’s fees under Civil Code section 1717. If two lessons have emerged, it is to pay attention to the breadth of the attorney’s fees clause and your status in the litigation (signatory, third party beneficiary, assignee,
Separate Contractual Action Necessary to Support 1717 Fee Recovery. In a follow-up to a CEQA action centering primarily on the arroyo toad (bufo microscaphus californicus), the winning developer sought attorney’s fees in the CEQA action through a postjudgment hearing. The basis was an indemnity clause (which did allow for fee recovery) by which
Premature to Award Fee Until Dust Settles and Winner Can Be Declared. The next case we look at has interesting facts. Freeman, Freeman & Smiley, a Los Angeles law firm, sued its landlord after landlord allowed a third party to display supergraphic advertisements on the outside of the leased building in which
Bad News for Attorneys . . . Co-Counsel Cannot Try to Circumvent Limitation By Representing Each Other In De Novo Collection Matter Following Fee Arbitration. Here is a somewhat of a wild one, where two attorneys co-counseling for the same clients were denied fee recovery after a successful jury verdict, following on the
Plaintiff Won Below, But Denied Fees Based on Trope, With Affirmance on Fee Recovery Not Making Defendant the Prevailing Party. The next case is an elegant, short unpublished decision that demonstrates Civil Code section 1717 “prevailing party” status must be based upon consideration of the whole lawsuit, not just an appellate win on
Fact that Trust Deed Holder Might Have to Pay Fees Assessed Against Homeowners Did Not Trigger 1717 Fee Recovery. Diamond Heights Village Assn., Inc. v. Financial Freedom Services Funding Corp., Case Nos. A126145 et al. (1st Dist., Div. 4 June 7, 2011) (certified for publication) is a good addition to Civil Code section 1717
Wild Landlord-Tenant Dispute Gives Rise to Reversal of $212,685 Fee Award Against Both Signing and Nonsigning Defendants. Robertson v. Sapir, Case No. B224458 (2d Dist., Div. 3 May 24, 2011) (unpublished) was a “wild” landlord-tenant dispute including reported accusations of landlord’s brother (a tenant in a boarding room type of arrangement) bothering a
Work Authorization Was Part of the Contract, Sustaining Fee Recovery. Cooley’s General Pest and Termite Control, Inc. v. Westlake Bay Homeowners Assn., Case No. B221937 (2d Dist., Div. 6 May 24, 2011) (unpublished) is a case where an HOA was hit with a $102,025 attorney’s fees award under Civil Code section 1717. (Could have
Second District, Division 2 Answers the Question Under Civil Code Section 1717. We have seen numerous contracts that have attorney’s fees clauses that read something like this: “In any action between the parties arising out of or in relation to this Agreement, including any collection attempts should Payment not be timely made, the prevailing
Order Granting the People $707,882.50 in Attorney Fees and Costs of $32,673 Goes Up in Smoke, But Not to Worry, Parties Will Get to Light Up Again in Trial Court In this appeal, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company challenged an order awarding attorney fees to the People for enforcing a Consent Decree banning participating tobacco
