You Betcha, State Supreme Court Decided.
In Nickerson v. Stonebridge Life Ins. Co., Case No. S213873 (Cal. Supreme Court June 9, 2016), the California Supreme Court confronted the issue of whether attorney’s fees awarded to a prevailing plaintiff in a “bad faith” insurance lawsuit should be considered where attorney’s fees under Brandt v. Superior Court, 27 Cal.3d 813, 817 (1985) were awarded post-trial by the lower court via the parties’ stipulation rather than by the jury as damages in the primary case. Our state supreme court said “yes,” they should be considered no matter the procedural context in which Brandt fees were awarded. Because these attorney’s fees are essentially compensatory in nature, they can be considered by trial and appellate courts as far as adjudging whether the punitive/compensatory ratio was reasonable under state guidepost standards (absent circumstances, 9-10 to 1). Justice Kruger penned the unanimous decision by the court.
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