Application Of Law To Facts Is Not One For Experts To Opine On.
In Timed Out LLC v. Prisma Entertainment LLC, Case No. B309791 (2d Dist., Div. 3 Mar. 16, 2023) (unpublished), a litigant opposing a fee request proffered attorney declarations opining that no fees should be awarded because the prevailing party’s attorneys violated various California ethical provisions. The lower court sustained objections that the testimony offered legal conclusions which was the province of the lower court to decide. The appellate court agreed. Legal conclusions in the guise of expert opinion testimony are most always improper. (Summer v. A.L. Gilbert Co., 69 Cal.App.4th 1155, 1179 (1999).)
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