Denial of Fees Affirmed by Second District, Division 4.
The next case is a grim reminder for fee claimants that, where foreign law governs a fee proceeding, you need to make sure you cite proper foreign authorities to the trial court in support of the fee application. The claimants in the next case didn’t do that, with disastrous results.
In Zahedi v. Zahedi, Case No. B211758 (2d Dist., Div. 4 Dec. 17, 2009) (unpublished), defendants won a summary judgment motion and moved to recoup $510,843.70 in attorney’s fees as the prevailing parties under English law. [Under the English Rule, fees are generally awarded, as of course, to the prevailing party; just the opposite occurs under the American Rule.] The trial court denied fees, a result affirmed on appeal. The appellate court agreed that the fee claimants had not met their burden of showing that the loser should pay fees; no proper English legal authority was cited, and it was too late to do so on appeal.
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