Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes

FEHA: Court of Appeal Affirms Award Of Lower Fee Award To Winning Plaintiff

Cases: Civil Rights, Cases: Lodestar, Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes

First District, Division 4 Sustains Fee Award of $676,001 Based on a 1.25 Multiplier, Rather than Plaintiff’s Requested $940,590.87 Lodestar Plus a Proposed 2.0 Multiplier.      The First District, Division 4, in the unpublished decision of Tarver v. City and County of San Francisco, Case No. A116731 (1st Dist., Div. 4 Mar. 23, 2009) (unpublished), […]

Labor Code Violations: Trial Court Award Of $236,760 To A Single Prevailing Plaintiff Affirmed On Appeal

Cases: Lodestar, Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes

First District, Division Two Sustains Lower Court’s Application of 1.5 Multiplier.      Labor Code section 218.5 authorizes a mandatory award of attorney’s fees to a prevailing party in any action for nonpayment of wages if any party requests fees and costs upon initiation of the action. Labor Code section 1194(a) mandates an award of reasonable

POOF!: Summary Judgment Reversal In City’s Favor Causes Tumble Of $245,130 Fee Recovery By Plaintiff

Cases: POOF!, Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes

Fourth District, Division 1 Gives Domino Effect to Reversal.      POOF! again strikes.      City of San Diego obtained a partial reversal of a summary judgment in favor of a plaintiff who had also been awarded postjudgment fees of $245,130 under Government Code section 996.4, which pertains to a public employee’s right to reimbursement of

Post-Judgment Enforcement and Fraudulent Conveyance: Fees Are Awardable Based On Jury Determination That Parties Conspired/Aided and Abetted In Efforts To Avoid Enforcement of Judgment Against Predecessor

Cases: SLAPP, Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes

Second District, Division 7 Also Decides That Alter Ego Should Have Been Added As a Defendant For Purposes of Exposure to Anti-SLAPP Fees.      The next case shows that appellate courts will reinstate fee exposure where they are convinced that a party was part and parcel of a scheme to evade a judgment or was

Contempt Attorney’s Fees Under Code Of Civil Procedure Section 1218(a) Are Vacated Based On Failure To Apportion And On Due Process Grounds

Cases: Allocation, Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes, Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

  Fourth District, Division 3 Also Finds That Fee Clarifying Substantiation in Reply Brief Was Too Late Unless Opponent Given Opportunity for Further Response.      Code of Civil Procedure section 1218(a) provides for attorney’s fees to “the party initiating the contempt” for fees which that party incurred “in connection with the contempt proceeding.” It is

Winning County Teacher’s Challenge To $180,000 Fee Award Under Education Code Section 44944(e)(2) Affirmed

Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes, Cases: Standard of Review, Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

Second District, Division Two Finds No Abuse of Discretion in Not Awarding $300,670 in Attorney’s Fees to Winning Teacher.      The next case concerns a statutory fee-shifting statute—Education Code section 44944(e)(2). It also is an interesting illustration of how appellate courts vary in finding whether a lower court should have articulated the basis for its

FEHA: 25% Of Requested Fees Awarded Based On Apportionment

Cases: Civil Rights, Cases: Lodestar, Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes

Second District, Division 3 Sustains Application of Negative Multiplier Based on Plaintiff Prevailing On Only One of Four Claims.      The California Fair Employment and Housing Act, Government Code section 12900 et seq. (FEHA), has a mandatory fee-shifting provision for prevailing plaintiffs. (Gov. Code, sec. 12965(b).) Nonetheless, it is tempered by mandating only awards of

Harassment Prohibition Orders: Attorney’s Fees Awarded To Winning Defendant

Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes

  CCP Section 527.6(i) “Prevailing Party” Language Is Broad, Rules the First District.      Code of Civil Procedure section 527.6(i) authorizes a discretionary award of attorney’s fees and court costs to the prevailing party in an action to obtain a TRO or preliminary injunction prohibiting harassment. The First District, Division 5 rebuffed a losing litigant’s

Another POOF!: Defendants’ $55,000 Fees/Costs Award Goes Away When Court of Appeal Reverses Summary Judgment In Landlord-Tenant Lawsuit

Cases: POOF!, Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes

  Reversal Means Award Goes POOF!      The POOF! principle got illustrated again, recently, in Spinks v. Equity Residential Briarwood Apartments, Case No. H031468 (6th Dist. Mar. 4, 2009) (certified for publication). There, landlords had obtained a summary judgment against tenant in a contentious landlord-tenant lawsuit after tenant’s employer terminated her and asked the landlord

Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act: Practitioners Should Get Higher Hourly Rates Based On Two Companion Ninth Circuit Decisions

Cases: Lodestar, Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes

Federal Court of Appeals Determines That A Broader Relevant Market Study, Not Just Past LHWCA Awards, Is In Order.      The Ninth Circuit recently decided two decisions that will likely result in higher hourly rates in the lodestar analysis for practitioners submitting fee recovery requests in LHWCA cases, a result that follows from a past

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