Prevailing Party: California Supreme Court Decides Goodman v. Lozano

Plaintiff Cannot Recover Fees From Nonsettling Litigants Where Offsets From Settling Litigants Result in a Zero Judgment.

    The California Supreme Court, in a much anticipated decision, has decided an important “prevailing party” issue in Goodman v. Lozano, Case S162655 (Cal. Supreme Ct. Feb. 4, 2010) (published).

 

    Our state supreme court decided that plaintiffs suffering a zero judgment against nonsettling defendants, after offsets allowable for settlements made by settling defendants under CCP § 877, are not entitled to recover attorney’s fees and costs because plaintiffs did not obtain a “net monetary recovery.”

 

    The decision was authored by Justice Chin on behalf of a 7-0 court.  In the process, the high court disapproved Wakefield v. Bohlin, 145 Cal.App.4^th 963, 982-983 (2006) and distinguished several other appellate decisions.