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Family Law: $11,000 Sanctions Award Under Family Code Section 271 Was Reversed Because Entire Record Showed That Ex-Wife Was Neither Uncooperative Nor Unreasonable
As A Matter Of Law, The Totality Of Circumstances Showed No Predicate For 271 Sanctions. The result in Marriage of Ortiz and Rivera, Case No….
Reasonableness Of Fees, Special Fee Shifting Statutes: $53,527 In Attorney’s Fees To Winning Neighbor In Civil Harassment Restraining Order Proceeding Was Affirmed On Appeal
Lower Court Did Reduce The Requested Fees By About 30%. A neighbor won a civil harassment restraining order proceeding in Judson v. Tait, Case No….
Costs: $26,489.42 Costs Award For Lawyer And Paralegal Time In Preparing 4,000 Page Administrative Record Was No Abuse Of Discretion
No Per Page Charge Is A Mandatory Requirement. In Moving Oxnard Forward, Inc. v. City of Oxnard, Case No. B338323 (2d Dist., Div. 6 July…
Civil Rights, Reasonableness Of Fees: ADA Default Judgment With Injunctive Relief Did Change The Relationship Between The Parties, Which Means A Denial Of Attorney’s Fees Was Erroneous
However, Ninth Circuit Did Agree The District Court, On Remand, Could Find Use of Recycled Work And Errors In The Fee Petition Would Justify A…
Insurance: 1/1 DCA, Despite Holding Differently Earlier, Finds That Insured Is Entitled To Brandt Fees On Appeal
It Found Baron More Persuasive. In RMB Real Estate Investments 2, LLC v. California Capital Ins. Co., Case No. A170466 (1st Dist., Div. 1 July…
Appeal Sanctions, Paralegal Time, Reasonableness Of Fees: Trial Court’s Refusal To Award Contractual Fees For Paralegal Work Reversed On Appeal
Also, Attorney Fee’s Reductions Were Affirmed And Appellant Was Ordered to Pay Minimal Appeal Sanctions For AI Hallucinations In Appellate Briefing. The memorable thing about…
Civil Rights: South Dakota Federal District Judge Issues A Substantial Fee/Costs Award Of Around $2.5 Million To Prevailing Plaintiffs In An Indigenous Tribal Civil Rights Dispute Involving A South Dakota Hotel
Plaintiffs Prevailed In Protracted, Bitterly-Fought Litigation Where The Jury Verdict Was Only Around $64,000 In Total. Although we usually post on California fees cases, the…
Family Law: $20,000 Monetary Sanctions Affirmed Where Losing Litigant Did Not Disclose Any Objection To Bifurcate Trial On The Premartial Agreement Validity
Delay In Asserting An Objection To Bifurcating Trial Was Dispositive. Perceived gamesmanship can be punished; we bloggers are not the judges of whether that has…
Judgment Enforcement: Lower Court’s Denial Of Post-Judgment Attorney’s Fees Was Legally Incorrect Based On The Filing Of A Costs Memorandum Rather Than A Noticed Motion
Because A Statutory Basis Allowed For Attorney’s Fees Recovery, Denial Based On A Lack Of A Contractual Basis For Fees Substantively Was Erroneous Where A…
Reasonableness Of Fees, Special Fee Shifting Statutes: Although The Immigration Consultants Act Does Allow For Fee Recovery, The Lower Court Did Not Err In Reducing $40,725 Fee Request Down To $5,885.66
Reductions Fell Within The Deferential Standard Of Review For Fee Requests Under The Record In The Case Where A Fee Request Was Perceived As Excessive….
Prevailing Party, Section 1717: District Prevailing In Percentage Lease Dispute Under Contractual Leases Was Properly Awarded $137,400 In Attorney’s Fees
Contractual Ambiguity Challenges Did Not Resonate, Because Not Raised Below. In Ventura Harbor Restaurant Associates, Inc. v. Ventura Port Dist., Case No. B344145 (2d Dist.,…
Family Law: Family Code Section 271 Monetary Sanctions Cannot Be Imposed On Litigant’s Attorney
Reversal As A Matter Of Law Was The Result. Ex-husband’s attorney in Forrest v. Forrest, Case No. D086281 (4th Dist., Div. 1 July 8, 2026)…
Discovery, Ethics, Sanctions: In Pro Per Litigant Not Automatically Disqualified As Far As Seeking $1,000 In Monetary Sanctions From Defense For Failing To Produce Document Responses Under CCP § 2023.050
Litigant Did Not Need To Show Expenses Were Actually Incurred, Plus The Appellate Court Reminds Us That Civility Applies To Both Self-Represented And Represented Litigants….
Lodestar, Sanctions: CCP § 128.5 Sanctions, With A Small Reduction, Were Affirmed Against The Defense Where A Mistrial Motion Was Granted Based On Violating The Parties’ Trial Stipulation On An Evidentiary Issue
The One Reduction Related To A Duplication Argument Not Supportable. In Rodriguez v. Paramount Convalescent Group, Inc., Case No. B344443 (2d Dist., Div. 3 July…
Off Topics: Contributor Marc Alexander Has Article On Birthright Citizenship SCOTUS Decision Published In The July 7, 2026 Daily Journal
Article Explores The Recent Trump v. Barbara Opinion Reaffirming The Principle. Contributor Marc Alexander has a published article in the July 7, 2026 Daily Journal…
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Family Law: $11,000 Sanctions Award Under Family Code Section 271 Was Reversed Because Entire Record Showed That Ex-Wife Was Neither Uncooperative Nor Unreasonable
As A Matter Of Law, The Totality Of Circumstances Showed No Predicate For 271 Sanctions. The result in Marriage of Ortiz and Rivera, Case No. G064694 (4th Dist., Div. 3 July 15, 2026) (unpublished) does not happen often, but it does show that an appellate court can review the entire record and determine that, as…
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Reasonableness Of Fees, Special Fee Shifting Statutes: $53,527 In Attorney’s Fees To Winning Neighbor In Civil Harassment Restraining Order Proceeding Was Affirmed On Appeal
Lower Court Did Reduce The Requested Fees By About 30%. A neighbor won a civil harassment restraining order proceeding in Judson v. Tait, Case No. B346920 (2d Dist., Div. 6 July 14, 2026) (unpublished), subsequently requesting prevailing party fees of $76,467 under a fee-shifting statute in this area. The lower court reduced the request by…
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Costs: $26,489.42 Costs Award For Lawyer And Paralegal Time In Preparing 4,000 Page Administrative Record Was No Abuse Of Discretion
No Per Page Charge Is A Mandatory Requirement. In Moving Oxnard Forward, Inc. v. City of Oxnard, Case No. B338323 (2d Dist., Div. 6 July 14, 2026) (unpublished), City was awarded $26,489.42 in costs under CCP § 1094.5(a) for lawyer and paralegal time in preparing an administrative record even though the costs memorandum was filed…
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Civil Rights, Reasonableness Of Fees: ADA Default Judgment With Injunctive Relief Did Change The Relationship Between The Parties, Which Means A Denial Of Attorney’s Fees Was Erroneous
However, Ninth Circuit Did Agree The District Court, On Remand, Could Find Use of Recycled Work And Errors In The Fee Petition Would Justify A Reduction On Reasonableness Grounds. In Price v. Diab, No. 25-713 (9th Cir. July 13, 2026) (published), the district court granted an American with Disability Act (ADA) plaintiff a default injunction…
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Insurance: 1/1 DCA, Despite Holding Differently Earlier, Finds That Insured Is Entitled To Brandt Fees On Appeal
It Found Baron More Persuasive. In RMB Real Estate Investments 2, LLC v. California Capital Ins. Co., Case No. A170466 (1st Dist., Div. 1 July 13, 2026) (unpublished), the appellate court affirmed a case against an insurance carrier after determining that a 10:1 punitive ratio passed constitutional muster. However, on appeal, the issue arose as…
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Appeal Sanctions, Paralegal Time, Reasonableness Of Fees: Trial Court’s Refusal To Award Contractual Fees For Paralegal Work Reversed On Appeal
Also, Attorney Fee’s Reductions Were Affirmed And Appellant Was Ordered to Pay Minimal Appeal Sanctions For AI Hallucinations In Appellate Briefing. The memorable thing about this opinion, Del Biaggio v. Bansen, Case No. A174647 (1st Dist., Div. 4 July 10, 2026) (published), is what it determined in compensating paralegal work under a contractual fees clause…