Cases: Section 1717

Family Law: A Two-Fer—Family Code Section 271 Award Affirmed And $1.2 Million Civil Code Section 1717 Stipulated Award Upheld On Appeal

Cases: Family Law, Cases: Section 1717

Two Second District Decisions Are Surveyed. Marriage of Kaufman, Case No. B196632 (2d Dist., Div. 4 Mar. 27, 2009) (unpublished)      In this one, wife—after remarrying in a very public ceremony—was ordered to pay her former husband’s attorney’s fees of $15,000 under Family Code section 271 (out of a requested $42,000 in fees), payable in […]

Civil Code Section 1717: Without Prejudice Dismissal Of Apartment Fire Damage Suit Did Not Give Rise To Fee Exposure

Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation, Cases: Section 1717

  Second District, Division 4 Applies Santisas in Affirming Denial of Fees.      In our category “Leading Cases,” we have listed Santisas v. Goodin, 17 Cal.4th 599 (1998), which held that a voluntary dismissal of contractually-based claims will not lead to fee exposure under Civil Code section 1717. However, Santisas did leave open the exception

Real Estate Litigation: Aggressive Litigation Posture By Opponent Can Gain Civil Code Section 1717 Winner Almost All of Its Attorney’s Fees In Contentious Case.

Cases: Reasonableness of Fees, Cases: Section 1717

Second District, Division 6 Affirms Substantial Fee Award Based on “Tenaciousness” Factor.      For all attorneys winning contentious real estate litigation with a contractual fees clause, you may have a good chance of recouping most of your fees on behalf of clients under Civil Code section 1717, especially where your opponent was aggressive and tenacious

Estoppel And Fee Clause Interpretation: Losing Broker Using MLS Was Not Liable To Winning Seller For Fees Just Because Broker Pled Fee Recovery And When Fees Clause Did Not Encompass Losing Broker

Cases: Estoppel, Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation, Cases: Section 1717

First District, Division Five Follows Blickman Turkus and Sessions Decisions.      This next case is a virtual paradigm for students of fees clauses in exclusive listing agreements involving MLS brokers who sue sellers and then lose. It deals with judicial estoppel and fee clause interpretation issues frequently seen in these types of disputes.      Menasco

Civil Code Section 1717: Plaintiff Losing Forbearance Agreement Breach Lawsuit Hit With $48,877.50 Fees/Costs Award

Cases: Deeds of Trust, Cases: Section 1717

Fourth District, Division 3 Affirms Lower Court Fees/Costs Award.      Here is a sign of the times. Delinquent borrower enters into a Forbearance Agreement with lender. There is a mistaken tax refund paid to lender as part of the forbearance that gets disgorged, with borrower indicating that lender took a risk with respect to paying

Civil Code Section 1717: Litigant Assisted By Counsel In Defending Against Injunction Dissolution Motion Entitled to Fee Recovery

Cases: Section 1717

  Trope Does Not Bar Assistive Efforts.      In Hance v. Smith, Case No. D051917 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Mar. 3, 2009) (unpublished), respondent on appeal was found to be entitled to attorney’s fees under a Memorandum of Understanding when he successfully utilized an attorney in helping fend off appellant’s motion to obtain dissolution of

Civil Code Section 1717: Dismissal Of Foreign Corporate Plaintiff’s Action For Failure To Post Undertaking Is Finality For Purposes Of Awarding Fees

Cases: Section 1717

First District, Division 3 Decides Dismissal is Final For Section 1717 Purposes.      Recently, we have seen a slew of decisions, mainly unpublished, on what situations constitute finality for purposes of justifying a fee award under Civil Code section 1717. They go from one extreme like Santisas v. Goodin, 17 Cal.4th 599 (1998) (where the

Reneging House Seller Hit With Adverse $226,577.74 For Losing Specific Performance and Unlawful Detainer Actions

Cases: Sanctions, Cases: Section 1717

Court of Appeal Affirms Substantial Fee Award, But Reverses CCP Section 128.7 Sanctions.      As our Mission Statement warns, attorney’s fees can make or break a litigant given the high costs of taking a case to verdict or decision. The next litigant learned this message all too well, when a substantial fee award was affirmed

Civil Code Section 1717: Family Member Prevailing On Emotional Distress Claim Arising From Mistaken Interment Does Not Obtain Contractual Fees

Cases: Section 1717

Fourth District, Division 3 Splits On Liability Issue, But Decides No Fees.      In a first impression decision, involving a matter of last impression, a Fourth District, Division 3 panel split on whether a cemetery’s temporary interment of a stranger in a family plot adjacent to one’s parents may give rise to an emotional distress

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