June 2010

Costs: Government Entity Entitled To Award Of Routine Costs, Even If Verification Does Not Exactly Track The Statute

Cases: Costs, Cases: Sanctions

  Government Entity Entitled to Filing Fees as Costs, and Supplemental Memorandum Was Appropriately Filed.      The Fourth District, Division 3, in a tandem pair of decisions authored by Acting Presiding Justice Rylaarsdam, have confronted when governmental entities are entitled to recover filing costs even when no judgment is entered and that a costs memorandum […]

Lender Trust Deeds And Beneficiary Payoff Demand Statute: Court Of Appeal Rules On Fee Recovery By Lender Against Nonassuming Debtor And By Debtor For Winning Payoff Beneficiary Demand Claim

Cases: Deeds of Trust, Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes

  Second District, Division 8 Affirms Fee Recovery Addition to Note/Trust Deed in Lender’s Favor, But Finds Debtor Shows No Fee Entitlement Authority for Winning Payoff Demand Count.      Here is a case for all of you banking/creditor attorneys arising out of an interesting lawsuit that produced somewhat splintered results. However, it demonstrates that fee

Probate: Common Fund Recovery Comes To The Rescue!

Cases: Equity, Cases: Probate

  Adversarial Beneficiary Losing the Fight May Be Held Responsible for Winner’s Attorney’s Fees.      Family feuds can be bitter, as the next case demonstrates. They also can result in being saddled with attorney’s fees depending how the trial court rules, given that some equitable doctrines like the common fund doctrine are very broad and

Section 998: Defendants Correctly Awarded Postoffer Costs

Cases: Section 998

Plaintiff Fails to Support 998 Reasonableness Challenge With Adequate Record.      The Fourth District, Division 2 in Kalogirou v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Case No. E049193 (4th Dist., Div. 2 June 28, 2010) (unpublished) affirmed an award of postoffer costs to defendants under Code of Civil Procedure section 998.

In The News . . . . Louisiana’s Attorney General Still Shackled In Not Being Able To Hire Contingency Attorneys For BP Spill Litigation Assessment

In The News

  Bill Allowing for Capped Contingency Fee Died in LA House of Representatives …. However, There is Hope—See “The Great BP Coffee Spill” Video.      In our May 29, 2010 post, we did report on some contingency attorney fee caps that were making it difficult to respond to the BP spill incident. Louisiana is ensnarled

SLAPP: Intertwined Issues May Allow For Recovery Of Fees For Non-SLAPP Work Under Abuse of Discretion Deferential Standard

Cases: SLAPP

Fourth District, Division 2 Acknowledges Possible Split in Opinion on Recoverable of Fees on non-SLAPP Work, But Affirms Based on Deferential Review.      Although unpublished, Spiro v. Allen & Kimbell, LLP, Case Nos. E047790 & E048735 (4th Dist., Div. 2 June 24, 2010) (unpublished) nevertheless is an interesting case on whether SLAPP fees can be

FEHA Fee Shifting: Plaintiff Correctly Awarded Partial Fees Under Labor Code, While FEHA Fee Shifting Determination For Defendants Remanded For Frivolousness Finding

Cases: Civil Rights

Fourth District, Division 2 Addresses FEHA Fee Shifting Issues.      An LDS-affiliated plaintiff recovered a jury verdict from an employer based on religious discrimination, but it was unclear that she prevailed under her FEHA claim, although she did recover under Labor Code section 218.5 for unpaid commissions (a claim carrying a statutory fee-shifting clause). Although

Probate: Surcharging Fees of Beneficiary Against Trustee Affirmed On Appeal

Cases: Probate

Fourth District, Division 2 Found Trustee Brought it on Himself.      In DeRosa v. Masi, Case No. E045145 (4th Dist., Div. 2 June 25, 2010) (unpublished), trustee was ordered to personally reimburse part of a loan used for attorney’s fees in probate litigation battles with a beneficiary substantially prevailing on several key issues. Trustee’s main

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