Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

Appealability, Lodestar, Partition, Substantiation Of Reasonableness Of Fees: Lower Court’s Award Of Fees To Winning Beneficiaries And Property Owner In Partition Action Was Affirmed On Appeal

Cases: Appealability, Cases: Lodestar, Cases: Partition, Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

Apportionment Under Partition Statutes Is Vested Within Lower Court’s Equitable Discretion.             In Hofmann v. Hofmann, Case No. F079977 (5th Dist. July 15, 2021) (unpublished), trustee son Michael was obviously not happy when he lost a partition action to trust beneficiaries (his siblings) and the current property owner.  Beneficiaries and property owner, respectively, filed attorney’s

Employment, Reasonableness Of Fees, Substantiation Of Reasonableness Of Fees: Third Circuit Court Of Appeals Affirms Denial Of Fees Where Wage/Hour Plaintiffs Had Limited Success And Fee Petition Was Not Properly Documented

Cases: Employment, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees, Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

Plaintiffs Only Recovered $6,601 Out Of Requested $180,000 In Damages And Attorneys Sought $118,569 In Fees.             In Wang v. Chapei, LLC, Case No. 20-2975 (3d Cir. June 10, 2021) (nonprecendential), two wage/hour plaintiffs had their federal claim dismissed, were unsuccessful on class certification tries, and won about $6,601 out

Indemnity, Substantiation Of Reasonableness Of Fees: Trial Court’s Complete Denial Of Attorney Fees And Costs To Contractor Prevailing On Contractual Indemnity Claims Affirmed On Appeal

Cases: Indemnity, Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

Contractor Failed To Support Its Roughly $570,000 Fees/Costs Request With Underlying Documentation And Testimony, And Made No Attempt To Allocate Fees Between Compensable And Noncompensable Claims.             In Paul Ryan Associates v. Catlin Specialty Ins., Case No. A156755 (1st Dist., Div. 5 May 21, 2021) (unpublished), contractor prevailing on summary judgment, against contractual indemnity

SLAPP, Substantiation Of Reasonableness Of Fees: Trial Court Properly Granted Landlord Defendant’s Anti-SLAPP Motion Against All Of Tenant’s Causes Of Action And Did Not Abuse Discretion In Awarding Landlord $4,890 In Fees And Costs.

Cases: SLAPP, Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

All Of Tenant’s Claims Stemmed From Protected Activity Pursuant To Litigation Privilege.             Tenant sued landlord – claiming the content and service of a 3-Day Notice to Cure constituted breaches of covenants of good faith and fair dealing, quiet enjoyment, were defamatory, and interfered with the contractual and economic relationship between tenant and tenant’s domestic

Substantiation Of Reasonableness Of Fees: $387,464.50 Postjudgment Fee Award Reversed Based On Block Billed Entries And Severely Redacted Entries With No Justification

Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

Entries Made It Hard To Discern What Work Was Performed.             We like the result reached in R Consulting & Sales, Inc., Case No. D076749 (4th Dist., Div. 1 May 13, 2021) (unpublished), where an appellate court reversed a $387,464.50 postjudgment CCP §§ 685.040 and 685.070 enforcement fees award because the petitioning fee claimant had

Allocation, Multipliers, Section 1717, Substantiation Of Reasonableness Of Fees: Reversal And Remand Were In Order Where Trial Court Believed It Did Not Have Authority To Apply A Negative Multiplier In An Award Of Attorney Fees

Cases: Allocation, Cases: Multipliers, Cases: Section 1717, Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

Invoices Submitted In Support Of Plaintiff’s § 1717 Fees Motion Were Extensively Redacted And Contained Vague Block-Billing, Which Offered The Trial Court No Way To Meaningfully Apportion Time Between Causes Of Action.             After defeating defendant’s cross-claim breach of contract cause of action, plaintiff moved for Civ. Code § 1717 attorney fees of $939,600.50, which

Substantiation Of Reasonableness Of Fees: No Abuse Of Discretion In Award Of $28,086 In Fees And $2,069.36 In Costs To Sellers Of Mobile Home Park Who Prevailed In Confirming Arbitration Award

Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

Buyer Failed To Meet Its Burden Of Rebutting Seller’s Showing Of Entitlement And Reasonableness Of Fees With Supporting Rebuttal Evidence.             In Kim v. PCP-Sundance, Case Nos. D076510/D076799 (4th Dist., Div. 1 January 11, 2021) (unpublished), buyer of a mobile home park sued sellers for $1,754,428.50 for breach of the parties’ Special Indemnity Agreement (SIA)

Probate, Substantiation Of Reasonableness Of Fees: Attorney Fees By Three Firms Granted To Trustee In Long-Standing Dispute Were Affirmed On Appeal

Cases: Probate, Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

Fees To Three Firms Representing Trustee In Multiple Venues Was Just Fine In This Context.             A beneficiary under a trust, which engaged in a long-standing dispute against trustee in multiple venues (California superior court, California appellate court, U.S. bankruptcy court, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals), was not happy when well-documented fees incurred

Landlord/Tenant, Substantiation Of Reasonableness Of Fees: Landlord Seeking To Overturn $988,539 Attorney Fees Award To Prevailing Commercial Tenants In UD Action Gets Fee Award Reduced By Only $14,125 On Appeal

Cases: Landlord/Tenant, Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

No Abuse Of Discretion In The Trial Court’s Implied Finding That The Total Time Tenant’s Attorneys Spent Working On The UD Case And Subsequent Appeal Was Reasonable Given The High Stakes Involved In The Litigation.             In NHP/PMB Burbank Medical, etc. v. Premiere Medical, etc., Case No. B299841 (2d Dist., Div. 7 December 14, 2020)

Substantiation Of Reasonableness Of Fees: Detailed Time Entries Supported $103,950 Fee Recovery Under Fraudulent Transfer Statute

Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

Fee Entitlement Was Not Contested Below, So That Premise Carried On Appeal, Especially Given No Request That The Appellate Court Consider It As A Discretionary Matter.             Shin v. Chung, Case No. B301055 (2d Dist., Div. 4 Nov. 18, 2020) (unpublished), is a bleak reminder to contest fee entitlement at the trial court level; if

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