California’s Department of Transportation in People ex rel. Dept. of Transportation v. McNamara, Case No. H036228 (6th Dist. Aug. 14, 2013) (published) was hit with a $1.6 million damages award, inclusive of $400,000 for precondemnation damages. Depending on the spread between the condemnee’s final settlement demand and DOT’s final offer as well as other circumstances, Code of Civil Procedure section 1250.410(b) allows a condemnee to obtain litigations expenses (attorney’s fees, costs, and expert witness fees). Here, condemnee’s final demand was for $1.395 million, and DOT’s final offer was $1.355 million–not that far apart except for the $400,000 precondemnation award. The lower court believed this spread was too far, awarding condemnee $603,636 in attorney’s fees and expert witness/appraiser fees/costs of $30,107.22.
On appeal, the precondemnation damages and litigation expense awards went POOF!
The appellate court determined the $400,000 damages component was unwarranted. Once that was removed, the jury’s award went down to $1.2 million which, as a matter of law, meant the small “spread” between the final demand/offer was not unreasonable as a matter of law under section 1250.410(b).