Cases: Section 1717

Fees Clause Interpretation: Does Clause Mandating Award Of “Actual Costs And Expenses” To Prevailing Party Mean Actual Or Reasonable Fees?

Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation, Cases: Section 1717

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 […]

Section 1717 and Prevailing Parties: Fourth District, Division One, Rules that Civil Code Section 1717’s Prevailing Party Standard, Mutuality Principle, and Reasonable Fees Standard Apply to an Attorney’s Fees Provision in a Consent Decree

Cases: Prevailing Party, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees, Cases: Section 1717, Rates

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

Fee Clause Interpretation/Section 1717: Successful Defense Of Contractual Claim Garners Fee Recovery, But Successful Defense Of Tort Claims Does Not

Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation, Cases: Section 1717

  Breadth of Clauses Are the Determinative Factors.      By way of summary adjudication, nonsuit, and directed verdict, defendants beat contract and tort claims brought by plaintiffs, with the two defendants (Mr. Sun and C2) seeking postjudgment attorney’s fees awards but only C2 garnering a $120,000 fee award for prevailing on an implied covenant contract

Judicial Arbitration: Two Attorney’s Fees Of About $35,000 Each To Different Defendant Groups Affirmed After Plaintiffs Dismissed Complaint After De Novo Trial Request

Cases: Arbitration, Cases: Section 1717

  Arbitration Award Reinstated, Which Meant Substance of Attorney’s Fees Award Not Reviewable Absent Trial De Novo Request.      Here is one of the first decisions we have summarized dealing with a fee award in a judicial arbitration award which became binding after plaintiffs dismissed a complaint without prejudice after filing a trial de novo

Section 1717: 70% Lopsided Landlord Win In Lawsuit Meant Trial Court Abused Discretion In Not Awarding Contractual Attorney’s Fees

Cases: Section 1717, Cases: Standard of Review

  Discretion Only Goes So Far, Says Our Local Appellate Court      Presiding Justice Sills, on behalf of a 3-0 panel of our local appellate court, determined in La Cuesta v. Benham, Case No. G043788 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Mar. 29, 2011) (certified for publication) that discretion can only go so far when a litigant

Prevailing Party/Section 998/Section 1717: Defendant Prevailed Under Section 1717 Because Earlier Appellate Court Decision Found Reversal And No Need For Retrial

Cases: Prevailing Party, Cases: Section 1717, Cases: Section 998

  Plaintiff’s Voluntary Dismissal Without Effect; Offset for Prior Settlements Meant No Change in Result Due to Her Prior 998 Offer.      A trifecta of issues was considered by the appellate court in Goldstein v. Williams, Case No. D057826 (Mar. 24, 2011) (unpublished).      In this one, plaintiff sued for breach of contract and in

Prevailing Party/Section 1717: Court’s OSC Dismissal of Entire Action, Both Complaint And Cross-Complaint, Meant No Contractual Fees Were Recoverable

Cases: Prevailing Party, Cases: Section 1717

. . . However, Remand For Fee Recovery Evaluation on Dismissed Tort Claim.      For you folks entertaining voluntarily dismissals of actions, must reading in this area–if you are bothered about attorney’s fees exposure–is our state supreme court’s decision in Santisas v. Goodin, 17 Cal.4th 599, 602, 607-608 (1998) [one of our Leading Cases]. We

Ethics/Section 1717: Joseph P. Wohrle Pens Recent Article “Identifying Key Issues In Attorney’s Fees Litigation”

Cases: Ethics, Cases: Section 1717

March 2011 Article in The Advocate Magazine Explores Central Fee Issues.      For readers wanting a recent primer on key issues in attorney’s fees litigation, we commend for reading Joseph P. Wohrle’s article “Identifying Key Issues in Attorney’s Fees Litigation” which is published in the March 2011 edition of Advocate Magazine.      Mr. Wohrle, a

Section 1717/Costs: Another Two-Fer . . . . Gotta Have A Substantive Basis To Claim Recovery Of Attorney’s Fees Or Expert Witness Fees As Costs

Cases: Costs, Cases: Section 1717

ABC-Learn, Inc. v. Coronado, Case No. B219107 (2d Dist., Div. 2 March 2, 2011) (Unpublished).      In this one, a prevailing defendant appealed a lower court’s denial of his request to recoup $136,140 in attorney’s fees under a commercial lease dispute involving a lease agreement and unsigned purchase agreement/joint escrow instructions. The problem here was

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