Prevailing Party Only Obtained Petition Relief Based On General Prayer Clause, With Lower Court Granting A Remedy To The Prevailing Party–$53,679.63 Out Of $322,798.50 Fee Request Was The Ultimate Award.
Prevailing party in Seligman Liberty Station, LLC v. City of San Diego, Case No. C101420 (3d Dist. Oct. 23, 2026; posted Oct. 26, 2026) (unpublished) was miffed that it was only awarded $53,679.63 out of a requested $322,798.50 in attorney’s fees under the private attorney general statute. That ruling was affirmed by the Third District on appeal.
The main problems were these, which led to an affirmance of the reduced fee award: (1) prevailing party achieved limited success, a reduction factor, because its petition for relief was only granted based on a general prayer “for such other and further relief” versus the specific relief requested; (2) one of the attorneys was on “inactive” California State Bar status such that his work had to be excluded (which seemed to be conceded at the trial court level); and (3) the lower court’s 80% reduction from the remaining time, after subtracting the “inactive” time, was no abuse of discretion given limited success and overlitigation of the case.