Cases: Section 1717

Homeowners Associations And Section 1717: Homeowner Demonstrating Inapplicability of CC&Rs Entitled To Fee Award Under Civil Code Section 1717

Cases: Homeowner Associations, Cases: Section 1717

Reciprocity Principle Underlying Section 1717 Required Reversal of Fee Denial.      Here is a decision emphasizing that Civil Code section 1717 reciprocity principles will prevail, even where a successful litigant shows that the contract (in this case, CC&Rs) was inapplicable. The fees clause had to be construed as mutual in nature. The lower court did […]

Costs and 998 Expert Witness Fees: Court Of Appeal Affirms Most Of Trial Court Decision Awarding Routine Costs, Denying Expert Witness Fees, and Denying Attorney’s Fees

Cases: Appeal Sanctions, Cases: Costs, Cases: Experts, Cases: Sanctions, Cases: Section 1717, Cases: Section 998

First District, Division 5, Except for a $49 Adjustment, Tells Everyone to Go Home But For a Minor $1,000 Appellate Sanctions.      Salvio Street, LLC v. Lee, Case Nos. A122408/A123080 (1st Dist., Div. 5 July 29, 2010) (unpublished) is an interesting case, not just for the legal issues, but because it demonstrates how pragmatic appellate

Section 1717: Where Results Are Mixed …. Lots Of Prevailing Party Discretion

Cases: Prevailing Party, Cases: Section 1717, Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes

Fourth District, Division 3 Emphatically Makes the Point.      Roden v. Amerisourcebergen Corp., Case No. G041990 (4th Dist., Div. 3 July 8, 2010) (certified for publication) involved a plaintiff who was disappointed in being denied an award of attorney’s fees under a supplemental executive retirement plan (with ERISA implications) after prevailing on some aspects of

Civil Code Section 1717: Easement Dispute Did Invoke Fee Clause In Trust Agreement Between Parties

Cases: Homeowner Associations, Cases: Section 1717

  Third District Reverses Denial of Fee to Prevailing Party.      Ghandour v. Tahoe Sands Time Share Owners Association, Case No. C056395 (3d Dist. July 1, 2010) (unpublished) involved a trial court’s grant of a permanent injunction to plaintiff as against a defendant time share owners association, with the injunction prohibiting association from blocking her

Civil Code Section 1717: $281,058 Fee Award To Prevailing Party Affirmed Even Though Damage Award Only $60,500

Cases: Indemnity, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees, Cases: Section 1717

  Contentiousness of Opponent Was One Factor Justifying the Hefty Award.      Defendant in a contract dispute with plaintiff won $60,500 in damages, beating a Code of Civil Procedure section 998 pretrial offer of $62,001 (after preoffer costs were added in) made by plaintiff. Then, due to a contractual fees clause in the operative agreement,

Section 1717: General Manager, Non-Owner Of Landlord Entity Entitled To Seek Recovery Of Attorney’s Fees In Lease Dispute

Cases: Section 1717

Second District, Division 2 Nixes Primary Trope Challenge On Appeal.      Here is an interesting one to add to the Trope jurisprudence, although it is unpublished in nature. The end result is that a general manager of a represented client likely is analogous to an in-house counsel lacking the personal interest to disqualify the manager’s

Fee Clause Interpretation: CAR Broker Fee Clause Draws Starkly Different Views On Fee Recovery In Unpublished Decision

Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation, Cases: Section 1717

  First District, Division 2 Panel Has Very Divergent Perspectives on Breadth of Fee Clause.      Here is a very interesting unpublished decision about the interpretation of a CAR form fee clause in a brokerage contract. The main dispute centered upon the interpretation of the scope of this provision: “In any action, proceeding or arbitration

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