Nonprofit Group Files Complaint With Federal Election Commission. Censured Rep. Charles Rangel (N.Y.) apparently has drawn the ire of a nonprofit group, the National Legal and Policy Center, which has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission. The NLPC alleges that Rep. Rangel, who denies wrongdoing, used moneys from his National Leadership PAC […]
In-House Counsel Look for Efficiencies and Alternative Billing Arrangements. In the December 2010 edition of California Lawyer, there are some interesting articles about legal budgets for U.S. corporations. Looks like, in 2009, law department spending dropped for the first time in nearly a decade, by 1% according to a survey of 252 U.S. companies
$1.6 Billion Tax Write-offs At Issue Over 10 Year Period. In Boccardo v. Commissioner, 56 F.3d 1016 (9th Cir. 1995), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that lawyers who represent clients in “gross fee” contingency fee cases—those situations where the lawyer pays off all the expenses and the lawyer and client later
All Star Line Up at Pending McCourt Divorce Trial. Frank McCourt (not to be confused with the author of Angela’s Ashes) has added renowned Houston-based trial attorney Stephen Susman to his “line up” (sorry, bad pun but fun) in the pending August 30, 2010 Los Angeles County Superior Court divorce trial against ex
Fourth District, Division 2 Found Focus Was Improperly on Prospective Future Decisions Rather Than on the CEQA Rights Already Vindicated by Plaintiff. In Save Round Valley Alliance v. County of Inyo, Case No. E048236 (4th Dist., Div. 2 May 6, 2010) (unpublished), the Fourth District, Division 2 reversed a trial court’s denial of private
Trial Court Has Inherent Discretion to Strike Costs Memo on Due Process Grounds, Limited Reversal Does Not Necessarily Vacate Prior Costs Award, and Post-Remittitur Costs Are Allowed in Trial Court’s Discretion. Although it might put you to sleep to recount the unusual procedural setting of the next case, Apex Wholesale, Inc. v. Fry’s Electronics,
Coming Attractions . . . . Marc and Mike’s Top 20 Fee Decisions In 2009 In the next couple of weeks (with apologies to David Letterman for expanding the numerical count), we will be providing you with a synopses of our “Top 20” Fee Decisions in 2009. We will limit this to only published
In our October 25, 2009 post, we reported on the award of routine costs in favor of the school district and teachers’ union in the Farnan-Corbett lawsuit. An early November 2009 fees motion is still pending with respect to these two entities. As reported in The Orange County Register (see Scott Martindale’s
First District, Division 5 Sustains Sanctions For Production of Laptop With Deleted or Scubbed Computer Files. For all of you e-discovery fans out there, here is one where a substantial monetary sanctions—one that could have been much larger—was affirmed on appeal for a defendant’s production of a laptop with deleted and “scrubbed”
Civil Code Section 3344: Attorney’s Fees Properly Denied Where Claim Did Not Involve Identity Theft In Connection With Products, Merchandise, or Goods Fourth District, Division 3 Finds Controversy Moot, But Decides the Merits To Avoid Repetition. Civil Code section 3344(a) provides that a prevailing party in an action involving “any person who knowingly uses
