The Orange County Bar Association’s Professionalism and Ethics Committee has, in the January 2010 issue of the Orange County Lawyer, published its “2009 Ethics Round-Up” that explores the following fee issues: Fee arbitration provisions in attorney-client retainer letters, discussing Schatz v. Allen Matkins Leck Gamble & Mallory LLP, 45 Cal.4th 557 (2009) [contractual arbitration […]
$7 Million Net Will Go Back Into the City’s Spending Fund. City of Long Beach recently won a lawsuit against insurer AIG for reimbursement of portions of a $20 million settlement paid to Shirley McClure in a case alleging a councilmen-planning director conspiracy to keep her from operating six groups of homes for
As reported by Debra Cassens Weiss in a January 14, 2010 post on the American Bar Association’s website, Seventh Circuit Judge Richard Posner recently chided lawyers for Rex Carr, a class action attorney who has sued his former firm for over $20 million in compensatory damages in connection with fee disputes, for “neglecting their
Fourth District, Division 3 Finds Guardianship Petition Should Have Been Dismissed. In our May 9 and August 22, 2009 posts, we explored developments in a petition brought by Paul Petersen to undertake certain actions for the alleged benefit of the octuplets of Nadya Suleman. The main battle was Mr. Petersen’s efforts to obtain an
His Failure to Present a Claim to the County Barred Fees Request. In our May 3, 2009 post, we discussed former Kern County Sheriff Carl Sparks’ battle in a lawsuit brought by Kern County to obtain an award of attorney’s fees under several theories, but mainly Government Code section 996.4 (a statute requiring
On January 5, 2010, the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office collected $4.8 million for the sale of a 3-acre lot south of downtown that was never developed by Concerned Citizens of South Central Los Angeles (a nonprofit organization), with the lot never materializing into a soccer field/youth center for low-income families despite the
District’s Entire Yearly Budget is Just $222,304 For 2009. We have reported on the sting that attorney’s fees award can bring to litigants. Unfortunately, this can also sting public agencies with shrinking or fairly small budgets. As reported by Teri Sforza in her December 22, 2009 post “Will Silverado-Modjeska go bankrupt paying developer’s
Sometime during the week of December 14, 2009, Merced County Superior Court Judge Brian L. McCabe ruled that the California Department of Motor Vehicles had to pay $69,400 in attorney’s fees to Americans for Safe Access, a non-profit group, in a lawsuit against the DMV for a policy of unjustly revoking derivers’ licenses of
McDonald’s Meeting With Lawyer and Client in Civil Rights Claim Lands Lawyer in Trouble with Federal District Judge. We know there is a popular saying “he is the real McCoy” and also know Sam Waterston’s portrayal of D.A. Jack McCoy on “Law and Order.” However, Bay Area attorney Waukeen McCoy has gained some
Judge Link Awards Only Half of Requested Fees to Prevailing Homeowners in Tree-Cutting Case. This next story contains some good clues to all attorney’s fees claimants about the type of issues that will bother a trial judge when a substantial fee request comes up for hearing. In January 2007, City of Poway workers
