Real Moral Of The Case Is That The Fee/Costs Award Eclipsed $71,700 Compensatory Award Inclusive Of Prejudgment Interest By Quite A Bit
We post on Star Restoration, Inc. v. Salame, Case Nos. B310809/B313512 (2d Dist., Div. 2 Sept. 29, 2022) (unpublished) because the affirmed result below, once again, bears out our Mission Statement that "[a]ll too often attorney fees become the tail that wags the dog in litigation." What happened here was that homeowner, who was abroad, had a friend hire a contractor to remediate leak damage to his house, with homeowner refusing to pay the $40,000 bill. Litigation ensued, with contractor winning and homeowner losing. Contractor won $35,360.62 in damages, $36,375.91 in prejudgment interest, $5,926.49 in costs, and $132,290 in attorney’s fees. Think that maybe homeowner would have been better off by paying the $40,000 bill?
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