$78,250 Fee Award In Favor Of Individual Litigant Gets Reversed.
For litigators of all ages, we have come to appreciate that the “hat” worn by a litigant frequently may play a determinative role in the course of a lawsuit. This next case we discuss exemplifies this very well.
One individual defendant won a $78,250 fee award against a Trust in The Alberta Hale Land Trust, Inc. v. Bonneau, Case No. C061945 (3d Dist. Jan. 18, 2012) (unpublished) after a long and complicated prescriptive easements/constructive trusts litigation. The trial court based the award by a fees clause in corporate by-laws, premised on the assumption individual defendant was sued in an official corporate capacity.
Wrong “hat” caused a reversal of the fee award. He was never sued in this capacity as an agent of the corporation. So, the award went bye bye.
Just a bye-bye kiss. Circa 1906. Library of Congress.