Private Attorney General: Trial Judge’s Decision To Deny Fees To Plaintiff Creating Unemployment Insurance Dispute Legal Precedent Was Proper

Adoption of Joshua S. Justified Denial Of The Fee Request.

            Plaintiff in Paratransit, Inc. v. Unemployment Ins. Appeals Bd., Case No. C080183 (3d Dist. Nov. 27, 2018) (unpublished) won an unemployment insurance dispute, albeit on narrow grounds, before the California Supreme Court. However, the trial judge denied plaintiff’s request for private attorney general fee recovery based on In re Adoption of Joshua S., 42 Cal.4^th 945, 949 (2008), which held that a litigant satisfying all the CCP § 1021.5 requirements may still be denied fees where only legal precedent was created not advancing a large public interest and only private rights were essentially vindicated. The Third District concluded the trial judge got it right, discussing many 1021.5 cases arising post-Joshua S. in the process.