Plaintiff Did Not Satisfy The Financial Incentive Statute Standards—Too Much Skin In The Game.
In Keen v. City of Manhattan Beach, Case No. B314744 (2d Dist., Div. 8 Aug. 15, 2023) (unpublished), plaintiff won a short-term rental dispute against the Manhattan Beach, but lost a remand request for attorney’s fees under the private attorney general statute. That fee denial determination was affirmed on appeal. The reason was the math, basically—plaintiff would net $90,000 from his lawsuit such that he should not get 1021.5 fees. That math was good enough to sustain the denial of fees on appeal. Arithmetic yet again prevailed.
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