Allocation, Section 1717: No Abuse Of Discretion In Trial Court’s Allocation Which Reduced Plaintiff’s Fee Award To $143,257.92 From Requested $800,165.00, Nor In Its Award Of $105,000 In Fees And $4,609.77 In Costs To Prevailing Defendants

Plaintiff Did Not Support Its Arguments With An Adequate Record On Appeal, Citations To The Record And Legal Authority.

            Newstart Real Estate Investment v. Huang, Case No. B289513 (2d Dist., Div. 8 December 18, 2020) (unpublished) is a breach of contract, fraud, and conspiracy action involving the sale of a Las Vegas Ramada Inn.  Plaintiff purchaser claimed its principal did not speak or read English, that defendants had conspired together to take advantage and sell the property at an inflated price and had failed to disclose the requirements to transfer of the Ramada franchise license to plaintiff – with the transfer of the franchise being the primary consideration for the purchase, but something plaintiff was unable to obtain.  Plaintiff sued seller and its members as alter egos, the escrow company and its principal, and the real estate brokerage and its principal who brokered the transaction.  The jury trial resulted in awards against broker and broker’s principal in $1.62 million in damages, over $1.2 million against seller, and another $280,000 in punitive damages against broker’s principal.  However, the trial court entered judgment omitting broker as a joint tortfeasor following post-trial hearings regarding some ambiguities as to the broker and its principal in the jury’s special verdict, and granted broker principal’s post-trial motion for a new trial on the punitive damages based on broker principal’s inability to pay .  The escrow defendants received judgment in their favor, and seller’s members were found not to be alter egos of seller in a bifurcated trial. 

            Plaintiff moved for $800,165 in attorney fees against seller based on the fees provision in the purchase agreement – with the trial court awarding $143,257.92 after reducing the fee to 1/6^th the amount requested based on the number of defendant groups and including fees for bringing the fee motion.  Individual seller defendants sought $596,598 in fees, pursuant to Civ. Code § 1717, but were awarded $105,000 as the trial court observed they had failed to demonstrate the reasonableness of their requested fees and could not recover fees incurred by seller in its defense.  Finally, broker sought prevailing party costs of $23,000, and the trial court – in partially granting plaintiff’s motion to tax – awarded broker $4,609.77 in costs.

            Plaintiff appealed, raising a number of challenges against the trial court’s final judgment.  Unfortunately for plaintiff, it failed to support its arguments with an adequate record on appeal, citations to the record and legal authority – thereby demonstrating no abuse of discretion and sealing its fate.  In a 3-0 opinion, the 2/8 DCA affirmed.