Much of Time Was On Behalf of the Trustee In His Individual Capacity. In the probate area, a trustee’s recovery of reasonable counsel fees for defending against a beneficiary’s claims is reimbursable if they are incurred in good faith and if they are for the benefit of the trust rather than the trustee […]
Appeal Dismissed Because No Postjudgment Order Involved. As Justice Ikola recognized in Martin v. My Car Agent, Case No. G048985 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Apr. 24, 2014) (unpublished), order appealability is a jurisdictional concern of the first instance for a reviewing court—black or white, not shades of grey. In this one, the appeal
U.S. Attorney’s Office Laffey Matrix Not Binding On State Courts In Determining Hourly Rates. On April 9, 2014, we posted on DKN Holdings, LLC v. Faerler, a Fourth District, Division Two unpublished decision finding that the U.S. Attorney’s Office Laffey Matrix (developed for the D.C. area) was not binding on state courts when
May 7 Is Scheduled Argument Date. We can now report that a fee case involving a conflicting battle between the Elder Abuse and Judgment Enforcement statutory schemes–Conservatorship of the Estate of McQueen (Ida) Taye (Fessha) v. Reed (Carol Veres), S209376 (Poochigian, J., assigned justice pro tempore)—has been scheduled for argument before the California
GRRRRRRRRR . . . . If you are reading this post, we thank you for your loyalty! Since last week, our internet platform, the usually very reliable Typepad, owned by SAY Media, has been subjected to a “distributed denial-of-service attack.” A DDOS attack is intended to make a network resource unavailable to
Statutory Language Allows Both To Be Imposed. The family law judge in Marriage of O’Connell, Case No. G047362 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Apr. 22, 2014) (unpublished) imposed $62,903 in sanctions as well as awarded one-half of undisclosed financial accounts in favor of wife and against husband under Family Code section 1101(g). Husband argued
Remand In Order to See If Any Exceptions Applied. In Mobasser v. Yermian, Case No. B247269 (2d Dist., Div. 7 Apr. 22, 2014) (unpublished), defendant appealed a lower court’s refusal to award $22,408 in postjudgment attorney’s fees based on plaintiff’s denial of a request for admission that plaintiff was not an employee. CCP
We Don’t Advise It, Unless You Want Jail Time. Lubbock, Texas. “Poochy”. 1942. Library of Congress. Here is one way of collecting fees we don’t advise doing. San Antonio attorney Hilda Valadez pleaded guilty in March of this year to criminal fraud charges of forging a judge’s signature on orders showing
Discounted Rates of $150-260 in Riverside Were Just Fine. Defendant promising to sell certain property to a plaintiff governmental entity for $8.42 million, with some environmental contamination holdback provisions, lost a specific performance suit in Riverside County Transportation Commission v. Liston Brick Co. of Corona, Case No. E054980 (4th Dist., Div. 2 Apr.
Around $13.25 Million, 25% Of $53 Million Settlement Fund (After Deducting Class Action Administration Expenses), Is Awarded To Class Counsel. Generally, California uses the lodestar as the fee-setting approach in the class action context, “cross-checked” by the percentage of recovery approach. However, reasoning by U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg in his fee award
