Plaintiffs’ Did Not Represent Himself, But Clients; However, No Allocation Required Based On Intertwined Exception. Defendants were not happy when a trial judge not only enforced a settlement agreement under CCP § 664.6 but also awarded attorney’s fees of $40,349.50 based on a settlement fees clause. Their appeal of both rulings was unsuccessful […]
Trial Judge Improperly Cut Stipulated Fees By Almost 50%. In Leeman v. Adams Extract & Spice, LLC, Case No. 142321 (1st Dist., Div. 4 Apr. 28, 2015) (unpublished), the parties reached a settlement agreement in a case arising under Proposition 65, which does allow recovery for attorney’s fees by a successful party under
Broader Clause Might Have Resulted In Different Result. This next case shows that care must be taken in crafting the scope of a fees clause, especially in a settlement agreement. The party successfully enforcing a settlement agreement was denied fees given that the fees clause was not broad enough to allow for the
Dot I’s and Cross T’s When Relying On An Electronic Signature! In J.B.B. Investment Partners, Ltd. v. Fair, Case Nos. A140232, A141228 (1/2 Dec. 30, 2014) (Kline, Richman, Stewart), the Court of Appeal reversed a trial court’s enforcement of a settlement agreement under CCP section 664.6, because email and voicemail messages failed to
Trial Court Based It On Wrong Document, But Settlement Agreement Confirmed the Result. In Jayaweera v. Lansberg, Case No. D065800 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Nov. 25, 2014) (unpublished), a trial court awarded a certain side prevailing in an easement dispute $82,174.25 in attorney’s fees under a Declaration of Restrictions (easement), a ruling challenged
Defense Failed To Oppose Fee Motion, So Excessiveness Objection Waived. In Corrigan v. Kent, Case No. B247707 (2d Dist., Div. 6 Nov. 12, 2014) (unpublished), plaintiffs sued defendant based on a large oak tree obstructing plaintiff’s view of the ocean based on a violation of Santa Barbara City view ordinance No. 5220. On
Judge Harold Kahn Reads The Riot Act. If ever a case demonstrates why settlements of class actions and fee awards to class counsel are subject to court oversight and scrutiny, this is it. Lofton v. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage v. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Case No. A136626 (1/3 October 22, 2014) (certified for publication).
A Twist: SLAPP Attorney’s Fees Not At Issue Here – Rather “Wrongful” Distribution Of Funds Held By Attorney Leads To Lawsuit And SLAPP Motion. In the typical SLAPP case we report about, the issue is whether attorney’s fees will be recovered for prevailing on a SLAPP motion. But in our next case, the
Denial of Attorney’s Fees in ADA Action Gets Remanded for Discretionary Exercise on Fee Ancillary Matters. K.C. v. Torlakson, Case No. 12-16178 (9th Cir. Aug. 11, 2014) (published), in a diversity matter, provides instructive guidance on the scope of a district court’s ancillary jurisdiction over post-judgment attorney’s fees disputes versus ancillary jurisdiction over
CCP § 664.6 Settlement Enforcement Provisions Did Not Apply. The Third District in Marriage of Mead and Williams-Mead, Case No. C073814 (3d Dist. Aug. 6, 2014) (unpublished), after almost 10 years of unsuccessful litigation by ex-husband against ex-wife, seemed to finally have had enough. Ex-husband appealed an $80,201 attorney’s fees award to
