$2.15 Million Was The Fee Request.
City of Richmond, through counsel Morrison & Foerster, obtained a motion for judgment on the pleadings in a contract breach suit brought by the Guidiville Rancheria of California, a federally recognized Indian tribe, and affiliate developer of a canceled casino project. Unfortunately for the losing plaintiffs, there was a Land Disposition Agreement with a fees clause. City moved to recover a total of $2,149,370 in fees and $156,259.26 in costs, based on a lower blended hourly rate charged to the public entity by MoFo.
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, on August 25, 2015, decided that $1.9 million was a reasonable fee award to City, finding its overall request to be reasonable in nature and determining the tribe had waived a sovereign immunity defense by commencing suit. The basis for the fee award was Civil Code section 1717, and the case is The Guidiville Rancheria of California v. U.S.A., No. CV 12-1326-YGR (N.D. Cal.).