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Arbitration: Where Parties Failed To Remind Arbitrator About Stipulation To Bear Fees/Costs, Subsequent Award Of Fees To Plaintiff In The Arbitration Was Not Subject To Vacatur
Circumstances Did Not Fall Into “Legally Dispositive Facts” Vacatur Principle. In VIP Mortgage Incorporated v. Gates, No. 24-7624 (9th Cir. Dec. 22, 2025) (published), a…
Substantiation Of Reasonableness Of Fees: Where Prevailing Party Landlord Provided A Less Redacted Abstract Of Time Spent On The Case, That Substantiation Supported A Lower Court’s Award Of $94,344 In Fees
Prevailing Party Voluntarily Lowered Its Fee Request Down From $142,842. Prevailing landlord was given a second chance when the lower court observed that billing substantiation…
Private Attorney General: Where Prior Prevailing Parties Had Their Rulings Abrogated By Legislative Action Resulting In A Reversal Of Prior Opinions, They Were Not Successful Under CCP § 1021.5
Prior Opinions In Plaintiffs’ Favor Had No Precedential Value. In Make UC A Good Neighbor et al. v. Regents of University of California, Case No….
Civil Rights, Construction: In Construction Accessibility Cases Under The Unruh Act, Where A Defendant Asks For A Stay And An Early Evaluation Conference, Plaintiff Must File Information Showing Claimed Damages And The Amounts Of Fees/Costs Incurred As Of The Filing
Plaintiff Argued That The Fees Disclosure Invaded The Attorney-Client Privilege, An Argument Rejected At Both The Trial And Appellate Levels. In what we consider to…
SLAPP: Lower Court Did Not Err In Reducing SLAPP Fee Request Of $38,317.50 To An Actual Fee Award Of $5,000
Work On The Motion Was Excessive. After a case was voluntarily dismissed, a defendant brought a SLAPP fee motion and requested $38,317.50 in mandatory fees…
In The News . . . . Former Orange County Prosecutor Is Awarded $1,542,215 In Attorney’s Fees In Sexual Harassment/Retaliation Case Resulting In A $3 Million Favorable Jury Verdict For Plaintiff
Total Exposure For Orange County Approximates About $4.5 Million Former Orange County prosecutor Tracy Miller sued Orange County and certain DA defendants in a sexual…
Arbitration, Section 1717: Prevailing Party Winning A Petition To Appoint An Arbitrator In A Discrete Action Under The Parties’ Contract Was Entitled To Recover $68,800 In Fees For Getting An Arbitrator Appointed
Prematurity Arguments Were Rebuffed. In Barbanell v. Lodge, Case No. D084193 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Dec. 17, 2025) (unpublished), the parties entered into a settlement…
Arbitration: 2/5 DCA Remands Employer Untimely Payment Dispute To The Trial Court To See If Employer’s Excuse Fell Within Hohenshelt
Concurring Justice Suggests That Discovery Might Be Appropriate For Scrutiny Of Employer’s Failure To Timely Pay. Howard v. Koulax Enterprises, Case No. B335329 (2d Dist.,…
Arbitration: 4/3 DCA Joins An Emerging Appellate Majority In Remanding Arbitration Nonpayment Decisions After Hohenshelt Decided
Remand Was To Determine If Employer Had An Excuse For Untimely Payment And Whether Employee Suffered Compensable Harm. Our local Santa Ana appellate court, in…
Homeowner Associations: Prevailing Party HOA Properly Granted Attorney’s Fees In A Renewed Motion Where The Initial Motion Was Denied Without Prejudice
CCP § 1008 Reconsideration Principles Did Not Govern; $95,182.75 Was The Fees/Costs Award. In Westwood Village Condominium Assn. v. Allen, Case No. A169848 (1st Dist.,…
Appeal Sanctions: 4/1 DCA Levies Sanctions For A Frivolous Appeal Of Three Orders, Based Partially On A1 Hallucinations Being Referenced
$59,236 Payable To Respondent; $15,000 Payable To Appellate Clerk In Howell Management Services, LLC v. Rota, Case No. D086055 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Dec. 15,…
Costs, Landlord/Tenant: Where No Settlement Agreement Was Of Record, And Testimony Was Conflicting On That Issue With Only Conjectural Evidence Offered By Landlords, Lower Court Erred In Denying Routine To Costs To Tenants After Landlords Dismissed The Unlawful Detainer Case Without Prejudice
Absence Of A Settlement Agreement Was Critical, Not To Mention Facts Indicating That Tenants Forced The Dismissal Because Landlords Knew They Might Lose. In Treybig…
Employment, Ethics: $576,000 Attorney’s Fees Award Against Cross-Defendant On FEHA Claim Allowed As An Amendment On The Eve Of Trial Was Affirmed Where The Cross-Complainant Recovered $1.4 Million In Damages
Cross-Complainant Sought $1.25 Million In Fees; Fees Were Appropriate Despite The Delay In Adding The FEHA Cross-Claim. This case is interesting to show how procedural…
Arbitration: Yet Another Employer Arbitration Late Payment Case Remanded To See If There Is A Cognizable Excuse Under Hohenshelt
Facts Are Not Clear Cut To Require A Reversal As A Matter Of Law As In Recent 2/1 DCA Wilson Opinion. We accurately did predict…
Employment, Prevailing Party: Employee Winning $11,594.80 In Labor Code Violations Had $163,440 Fee Award Reversed And Remanded
Reason Was That The Lower Court Applied The CCP § 1032 Prevailing Party Rigid Test, Rather Than A More Pragmatic Approach Which Governed Statutory Violations….
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Arbitration: Where Parties Failed To Remind Arbitrator About Stipulation To Bear Fees/Costs, Subsequent Award Of Fees To Plaintiff In The Arbitration Was Not Subject To Vacatur
Circumstances Did Not Fall Into “Legally Dispositive Facts” Vacatur Principle. In VIP Mortgage Incorporated v. Gates, No. 24-7624 (9th Cir. Dec. 22, 2025) (published), a vacatur request was denied where an arbitration award granted attorney’s fees and costs to a plaintiff on the defense’s counterclaims even though the parties had stipulated that fees and costs…
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Substantiation Of Reasonableness Of Fees: Where Prevailing Party Landlord Provided A Less Redacted Abstract Of Time Spent On The Case, That Substantiation Supported A Lower Court’s Award Of $94,344 In Fees
Prevailing Party Voluntarily Lowered Its Fee Request Down From $142,842. Prevailing landlord was given a second chance when the lower court observed that billing substantiation was severely redacted and post-judgment work had been included in 2503 Haste Street Owner, LLC v. FanX, Inc., Case No A170902 (1st Dist., Div. 5 Dec. 19, 2025) (unpublished). What…
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Private Attorney General: Where Prior Prevailing Parties Had Their Rulings Abrogated By Legislative Action Resulting In A Reversal Of Prior Opinions, They Were Not Successful Under CCP § 1021.5
Prior Opinions In Plaintiffs’ Favor Had No Precedential Value. In Make UC A Good Neighbor et al. v. Regents of University of California, Case No. A172510 (1st Dist., Div. 5 Dec. 19, 2025) (published), the appellate court affirmed that plaintiffs were not “successful” parties for private attorney general purposes despite winning favorable appellate precedents at…
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Civil Rights, Construction: In Construction Accessibility Cases Under The Unruh Act, Where A Defendant Asks For A Stay And An Early Evaluation Conference, Plaintiff Must File Information Showing Claimed Damages And The Amounts Of Fees/Costs Incurred As Of The Filing
Plaintiff Argued That The Fees Disclosure Invaded The Attorney-Client Privilege, An Argument Rejected At Both The Trial And Appellate Levels. In what we consider to be a very pragmatically reasoned decision, Johnson v. Rubylin, Inc., Case No. H053076 (6th Dist. Dec. 19, 2025) (published) decided that the attorney-client privilege does not support a disability plaintiff…
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SLAPP: Lower Court Did Not Err In Reducing SLAPP Fee Request Of $38,317.50 To An Actual Fee Award Of $5,000
Work On The Motion Was Excessive. After a case was voluntarily dismissed, a defendant brought a SLAPP fee motion and requested $38,317.50 in mandatory fees as the prevailing party (inclusive of a 1.5 positive multiplier) in Kim v. Woocher, Case No. B337918 (Dec. 18, 2025) (unpublished). The lower court only granted $5,000 in fees based…
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In The News . . . . Former Orange County Prosecutor Is Awarded $1,542,215 In Attorney’s Fees In Sexual Harassment/Retaliation Case Resulting In A $3 Million Favorable Jury Verdict For Plaintiff
Total Exposure For Orange County Approximates About $4.5 Million Former Orange County prosecutor Tracy Miller sued Orange County and certain DA defendants in a sexual harassment/retaliation case which went to trial in San Diego County Superior Court, resulting in a $3 million jury verdict. Recently, the trial judge decided that Plaintiff also was entitled to…