All Of The Claims And Defenses In The Action Were Inextricable Intertwined.
In partition actions, Code Civ. Proc. § 874.010(a) authorizes an award of “[r]easonable attorney’s fees incurred or paid by a party for thee common benefit,” and Code Civ. Proc. § 874.040 requires the trial court to “apportion the costs of partition among the parties in proportion to their interests or make such other apportionment as may be equitable.”
In Flannery v. Murray, Case No. B287284 (2d Dist., Div. 3 August 24, 2020) (unpublished), plaintiff and defendant purchased a 13-acre horse boarding ranch. They agreed to be 50/50 owners, and each contributed toward the down payment and improvements, but defendant had a low credit score, so her name was not on the loan nor the title. The parties’ 20-year relationship ended 7 years later, and litigation ensued over ownership of the parties’ boarding ranch – as well an insurance payout for a fire at the ranch. Among the many causes of action alleged, both claimed a cause of action for partition.
In the end, the trial court determined defendant was a half-owner of the ranch along with plaintiff, and was entitled to one-half of the insurance proceeds. Defendant then moved for a post-judgment fees award pursuant to § 874.010 – seeking from plaintiff one-half of the $371,076.66 in fees she incurred. Plaintiff opposed – arguing the fees were excessive and that defendant was entitled to recover only the reasonable fees she incurred in prosecuting her partition claim.
The trial court disagreed with plaintiff's contention, and awarded defendant $105,147.50 – reduced from the requested $185,538.33 for some excessiveness in time claimed to have been spent by plaintiff’s counsel, for excessive hourly rates, and for time entries for unrelated litigation.
Plaintiff appealed – arguing the trial erred because defendant was entitled to fees for no more than 26.5 hours of time spent on her partition claim, not for fees defendant incurred in connection with her other claims or in defense of plaintiff’s claims.
The 2/3 DCA affirmed – finding no abuse in discretion in the trial court’s determination that all of the claims and defenses in the case related to the partition claims, and finding the trial court properly determined all the attorney fees incurred in the action were inextricably intertwined. As a result, all the expenses incurred qualified for an award. (Reynolds Metals Co. v. Alperson (1979) 25 Cal.3d 124, 129-130.)
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