Fee Clause Interpretation, Settlement: Post-Settlement Fee Efforts Were Not Compensable Under Specifically Crafted Fees Clause Agreed To By The Parties

About $2.2 Million In Fees, Plus Multiplier, Denied To Plaintiff In Supplemental Fee Request.

            Willis v. L.A. County Waterworks Dist. No. 40, Case No. F082766 (5^th Dist. May 26, 2021) (unpublished) is an example of where a carefully crafted fees clause in a settlement agreement may govern supplemental fee requests by a claiming party.

            This had to do with a plaintiff/class representative in the Antelope Valley Groundwater cases which, previously, had been awarded pre-settlement fees of about $3.8 million.  The parties reached a settlement agreement allowing for post-judgment fees under very specific circumstances.   Plaintiff moved for supplemental fees of $1.558-2.143 million plus a positive multiplier.  However, both the trial and appellate courts agreed the supplemental fee request should be denied because the predicate “triggers” for a supplemental fee request were not met, per the settlement agreement fees clause.  No extrinsic evidence was introduced, such that the review of the “triggers” was a de novo look-at, and the fees clause did not allow for supplemental fee recovery.