Private Attorney General:  Reversal Of Plaintiffs’ Mandate Petition Means Trial Judge Then Has To Entertain Motion For Section 1021.5 Fees

Trial Judge, Rather Than Appellate Court, In Best Position To Determine Upon Full Record.

            In Save LaFayette v. City of LaFayette, Case No. A149342 (1^st Dist., Div. 4 Feb. 21, 2018) (published), the appellate court reversed a denial of appellants’ mandate petition requesting the City to submit their referendum to a public vote.  In their mandate petition, appellants prayed for recovery of private attorney general statutory fees under CCP § 1021.5.  Although acknowledging that an appellate court could do this under the right circumstances, the 1/4 DCA decided that it was best to have the trial court consider this on remand after developing a full record in which all the section 1021.5 were subject to examination.