Cases: Section 1717

Section 1717: Simply Worded Fees Clause Broad Enough To Invoke Reciprocity Principle of Civil Code Section 1717

Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation, Cases: Section 1717

Second District, Division 1 Affirms and Remands to Award Fees on Appeal.      Levaton v. Levaton, Case No. B213730 (2d Dist., Div. 1 Sept. 24, 2010) (unpublished) involved a family real estate deal gone bust, with the trial court ultimately awarding one side rescission. An initial appeal affirmed most of the judgment, but remanded to […]

Costs And Civil Code Section 1717: Motion To Tax Costs Award Reversed Because Nothing Showed That Section 1717 Applied or That The Claimed Costs Were Unnecessary Or Unreasonable In Nature

Cases: Costs, Cases: Section 1717

  Second District, Division 4 Orders Denial of Motion to Tax Costs.      Civil Code section 1717 applies to fee award requests, not an award of routine costs. If a memorandum of costs itemizes routine costs authorized by statute (such as filing fees, process service fees, and exhibit copying expenses), the burden is on the

Section 1717 And Appealability: Post-Jury Fee Award Was Appealable, Not Premature, Under Section 1717.

Cases: Appealability, Cases: Section 1717

  Second District, Division 4 Nixes Appellant’s Reliance on Parsed Language from Butler-Rupp.      In Sherwyn v. Nathaniel, Case No. B215666 (2d Dist., Div. 4 Sept. 1, 2010) (unpublished), defendant defensed plaintiff attorney in a jury trial involving attorney’s effort to collect unpaid fees that were claimed to be owed for a prior divorce representation

Civil Code Section 1717: Litigant Winning On Implied Contract Theory Cannot Use Nonsignatory Reciprocity Principles To Bootstrap Itself Into Fee Recovery

Cases: Section 1717

Fourth District, Division 3 Does Not Buy “Reverse Bootstrap” Theory Under Section 1717.        (Excerpted from photo in Wikipedia article on “Bootstrapping”)      One cannot ignore the reciprocity principle underlying Civil Code section 1717, which makes a unilateral contractual fee-shifting clause mutual in nature—and does so in a variety of circumstances. For example, there are

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,

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