$234,344 Fee Request, Denied By The Lower Court, Was Sustained On Appeal.
In Bulkin v. Medical Board of Cal., Case No. B350396 (2d Dist., Div. 7 Aug. 17, 2026) (unpublished), a physician/surgeon did obtain a prior unpublished successful appeal in which the lower court was directed to remove from the Medical Board’s records a post associating physician’s medical license with an arbitration award involving his employer in connection with a patient’s death. Physician, arguing he vindicated the interests of other Board physicians and the public, moved for CCP § 1021.5 private attorney general fees to the tune of $234,344. The lower court denied the fee request by the physician, a determination which was affirmed on appeal. The problem was that physician secured only a personal victory in an unpublished prior opinion—he did not enforce an important right affecting the public interest, given he did not file a class or representative action or did not seek an directing order for other licensees. (See, e.g., Roybal v. Governing Bd. of Salinas City Elementary School Dist., 159 Cal.App.4th 1143, 1149.)