Also Rejects Application of Perdue v. Kenny A. To State Cases Involving Lodestar Multipliers.
Khazan v. Braynin, Case No. A128536 (1st Dist., Div. 4 May 30, 2012) (certified for partial publication; fee interest issue published) is an interesting decision that has a scholarly discussion on when interest begins to run on a fee award. The opinion basically held that Stockton Theatres, Inc. v. Palermo, 55 Cal.2d 439 (1961) is still good law, and that interest accrual timing depends on whether there was a reversal versus just a modification of a prior fee award. If a reversal (as in Khazan, where the fee award papers had to be reconsidered on remand), then interest runs from the new award as compared to interest running from the original award if there was just a modification. Khazan also has an interesting discussion of the federal rule, where there is a split on whether interest runs from the date of a fee entitlement award or from the date of the fixing of the amount of fees, and the differences in rates of interest (10% per year in California state courts versus interest tied to T-bill rate in the federal system).
In the unpublished portion of the case, the appellate court affirmed a substantial lodestar award, reduced by 30% on remand after apportionment of noncompensable or unsuccessful claims, and then enhanced by a 1.5 multiplier (for a total award of $1,115,204 to the lead counsel). The interesting aspect of the discussion here is that the appellate court rejected application of Kenny A. v. Perdue, 130 S.Ct. 1662 (2010) to state multiplier situations, finding that the considerations in federal fee-shifting cases were distinguishable and that California is more liberal in allowing enhancements.
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