Cases: Section 1717

Borrower Prevailing On Contract Claim Entitled To Fee Award Even Though He Did Not Prevail On Noncontractual Claims

Cases: Allocation, Cases: Section 1717

Fourth District, Division One Reverses Fee Denial Based on Hsu v. Abbara.             We survey unpublished decisions because they frequently reinforce distinctions that get lost in translation because of the diffuse opinions on the “prevailing party” concept in California attorney’s fees award jurisprudence.  The next case reminds us that the “prevailing party” […]

Defendants Winning Declaratory Relief Action Against 1031 Purchaser Entitled To Fee Award Under Fees Clause of Purchase Agreement

Cases: Section 1717

Declaratory Relief Count Never Dismissed Was Proper Anchor for Fee Award.             Contractual fee clauses certainly shift the risks in civil litigation.  Civil Code section 1717 is a legislative embodiment of that policy, going so far as to make sure that unilateral fee clauses are construed as being mutual in nature.  The

Second District, Division Eight Follows Leach Rule On Judicial Estoppel In Section 1717 Situations

Cases: Estoppel, Cases: Section 1717

Division Eight Refuses to Follow Manier’s “Allegations Alone Suffice” Estoppel Theory.             In a wild case involving contentions of contract formation, untimely acceptance, and a critically forged document, the Second District, Division Eight affirmed a trial court’s equitable rulings but modified a judgment to delete an attorney’s fees award against a nonsignatory

Winning Joint Venture Litigant Denied Attorney’s Fees Because The Operative Memorandum Of Understanding Had No Fees Clauses And Other Peripheral Contracts With Fees Clauses Were Not Part of An Integrated Transaction

Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation, Cases: Section 1717, Cases: Standard of Review

Sixth District Finds That Stock Option and Voting Trust Agreements Were Not Interrelated and Never Sued Upon In Winning Litigant’s Complaint.             Under Civil Code section 1717, one needs a written agreement with a fee clause for potential attorney’s fees recovery.  Many times, there are several agreements involved in an overall transaction,

Suing Real Estate Buyers, Who Were Defensed At Judgment On The Pleadings Stage, Were Not Stung With Real Estate Purchase Contractual Fees By Victorious Brokers, But Did Suffer Fee Exposure From Lis Pendens Expungement Proceeding

Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation, Cases: Lis Pendens, Cases: Section 1717

Third District Affirms Award of Lis Pendens Expungement Fees to Brokers and Sustains Denial of Attorney’s Fees to Brokers Under Real Estate Purchase Agreement Fee Clause.             This next case deals with contractual fee awards under Civil Code section 1717 and fees assessed against a party that lost a lis pendens expungement

Scroll to Top