ABC-Learn, Inc. v. Coronado, Case No. B219107 (2d Dist., Div. 2 March 2, 2011)
(Unpublished).
In this one, a prevailing defendant appealed a lower court’s denial of his request to recoup $136,140 in attorney’s fees under a commercial lease dispute involving a lease agreement and unsigned purchase agreement/joint escrow instructions. The problem here was that California follows the American rule on fee awards, meaning there must be a statute or contract expressly authorizing them. Unfortunately, the controversy centered on a lease agreement with no fees clause. Given this reality,
no dice on fees even though the unsigned documents did have a fees clause.
Behr v. Redmond, Case No. E048333 (4th Dist., Div. 2 March 2, 2011) (Unpublished).
This case involved a gnarly suit for damages based on tortious transmission of genital herpes, with the plaintiff recovering some substantial compensatory and punitive damages after a jury trial. For our purposes, plaintiff was awarded $12,865 in costs for expert witness fees. Defendant successfully appealed, because plaintiff really had no argument for them given the absence of demonstrating that a CCP § 998 offer was served–the only real basis for such an award in a case of this sort. Costs award reversed.