Once Some Degree of Success in Shown, Fee Claimant Must Satisfy Some Elements of Multi-Factored Test For Discretionary Fee Award. Pretty recently, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Donachie v. Liberty Life Assurance Co. of Boston, 2014 WL 928971 (2d Cir. Mar. 14, 2014), had to decide what factors are used to […]
Trial Court Did Not Abuse Discretion in Fixing Fee Award Even Though Both Drivers Were Intoxicated In Accident. Dueling intoxicated car drivers had an interesting fee-shifting dispute in a civil case. What occurred in McBeath v. Bustos, Case No. B246122 (2d Dist., Div. 4 Mar. 18, 2014) (unpublished) was that plaintiff (who was
Answer: No Case On The Issue We Are Aware Of, But We Will Give Our Guess. A blog follower asked us if a small claims prevailing party can collect legal consultation expenses as “cost of the action” after prevailing—an apparent claim often made by winning small claims litigants. We could not locate
Arose Is Arose Is Arose Is Arose Gertrude Stein. Carl Van Vechten, photographer. 1935. Library of Congress. “Arose From” Language Encompassed Other Claims; Losing Plaintiff Did Not Prevail Given Specific Prevailing Party Definition Under Statute. In the fee area, one needs to pay particular attention to the wording of a specific fee-shifting statute. The
Civil Rights FEHA: Chiang v. County of Los Angeles, Case No. B238948 (2d Dist., Div. 1 Jan. 15, 2014) (Unpublished). County won summary judgment but appealed the lower court’s refusal to award it requested attorney’s fees of $324,098.80 as the prevailing party. The appellate court affirmed the conclusion that fees are not guided
Special Circumstances Were Shown in This One. Plaintiff/petitioner in Citizens for Open and Public Participation v. City of Montebello, Case No. B244106 (2d Dist., Div. 5 Dec. 23, 2013) (unpublished) sought writ relief for closed session Brown Act violations, with the lower court finding some violations but ultimately denying writ relief and petitioner’s
Appellate Court Deferred to Trial Court. In a very frequent occurrence, the appellate court in Brown v. Evpak, Case No. C069590 (3d Dist. Dec. 3, 2013) (unpublished) did what we have seen in the past with respect to these types of disputes. After affirming a case with a civil harassment fee-shifting statute, it
District Court Also Denied Plaintiff’s Requests for Sanctions After Defendant Withdrew Rule 11 Motion After Grant of Voluntary Dismissal; Reasons For Both — No Prevailing Party. The Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1365, allows citizen suits and has a fee-shifting clause which allows a district court, in its discretion, to award litigation
However, Dealer Not Entitled To Fees For Administrative Proceedings/Related Writ Proceedings Associated With Administrative Level Battles. Powerhouse Motorsports Group, Inc. v. Yamaha Motor Corp., U.S.A., Case No. B236705 (2d Dist., Div. 6 Nov. 26, 2013) (published) involved a retail motorcycle dealership obtaining a jury verdict award of over $1.3 million in compensatory/punitive damages against
Trial Court Did Abuse Discretion By Reducing Discounted Fee Request By Another Half. Corporations Code section 1604 provides that if a corporation fails without justification to comply with a shareholder demand for inspection of documents, the corporation can be assessed with attorney’s fees to reimburse the shareholder in connection with litigation involving the
