Trial Court Has Broad Discretion in Determining Amount of Fees.
Appealing litigant in Hopper v. Lawyers Title Ins. Corp., Case No. B245705 (2d Dist., Div. 4 May 16, 2014) (unpublished) argued that $13,026 in attorney’s fees recovery should be excluded because the particular attorneys who performed the challenged work did not provide a declaration—with the awarded fee amount established instead only by an omnibus attorney familiar with the case.
The appellate court was not persuaded by this technical argument. The trial court is vested with considerable discretion in determining the reasonable amount of fees, and can do so without the necessity of or even contrary to any expert testimony. (PLCM Group, Inc. v. Drexler, 22 Cal.4th 1084, 1096 (2000) [one of our Leading Cases}.
BLOG CROSS-CHECK: This result somewhat parallels the reasoning and result reached in Anelle v. Tran, an unpublished Fourth District, Division 3 decision discussed in our April 16, 2014 post.
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