Attorneys' Fees

A plaintiff's success in fending off a demurrer, summary judgment motion, or other pretrial motions does not immunize it from a later finding that the False Claims Act cause of action was frivolous and corresponding award of attorney fees. Read More

Motions to quash a subpoena on an internet service provider may be pursued even after the subpoena has been withdrawn, since there is no assurance in a voluntary withdrawal that the subpoena will not be reissued later, further harassing the same party for his exercise of free speech rights. Read More

Attorney fee award in connection with damages for breach of a settlement agreement is reversed for lack of admissible evidence of the attorney fees reasonably incurred since the only witness at trial lacked meaningful knowledge of these matters. Read More

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in awarding fees to a prevailing plaintiff in an individual FLSA retaliation claim, properly apportioning total fees among several plaintiffs, and attributing to this prevailing plaintiff only those fees reasonably incurred in prosecuting her individual claims. Read More

Since plaintiff won jury verdicts for actual damages and emotional distress, but the jury awarded $0 on plaintiff's claim for defendant's profits from the use of plaintiff's likeness, neither party was a "prevailing party" for purposes of attorney fees. Read More

In calculating value of class action coupon settlement for purposes of awarding attorney fees, only the value of the coupon credits actually used by class members should have been counted; the district court erred by performing its fee calculation based on the full value of all the credits available to class members.  Read More

For purposes of comparison with the amount of the judgment, pre-offer fees and costs are added to the amount of a rejected 998 settlement offer that is silent as to fees and costs since upon acceptance the offeree would have been entitled to an award of pre-offer fees and costs in addition to the amount of the settlement. Read More

The trial court abused its discretion by failing to consider all required factors under the Rule of Court governing minors’ compromise, which permits the reduction of plaintiffs’ attorneys’ contingency fees under certain circumstances. Read More

Plaintiff employees’ law firm was not entitled to attorney fees it sought separately and independently of court approval of class action settlement. Read More

In calculating value of class action coupon settlement for purposes of awarding attorney fees, only the value of the coupon credits actually used by class members should have been counted; the district court erred by performing its fee calculation based on the full value of all the credits available to class members.  Read More

For purposes of comparison with the amount of the judgment, pre-offer fees and costs are added to the amount of a rejected 998 settlement offer that is silent as to fees and costs since upon acceptance the offeree would have been entitled to an award of pre-offer fees and costs in addition to the amount of the settlement. Read More

The trial court abused its discretion by failing to consider all required factors under the Rule of Court governing minors’ compromise, which permits the reduction of plaintiffs’ attorneys’ contingency fees under certain circumstances. Read More

Plaintiff employees’ law firm was not entitled to attorney fees it sought separately and independently of court approval of class action settlement. Read More

A fee-shifting provision in the standard-form residential deed of trust is enforceable against the borrower, but only insofar as the fees are added to the loan principal secured by the deed of trust. Read More

Section 9 of the standard-form deed of trust, which allows the lender to take steps to preserve its interest in the property (including defending litigation) and charge the cost of doing so to the borrower, is in the nature of an indemnity provision under which the lender could add its litigation expenses to the principal debt secured by the deed… Read More

The employee is the prevailing party, entitled to a fee award on an employer’s appeal from a Labor Commissioner’s ruling unless the appeal reduces the employer’s liability to $0. Read More

When a government agency agrees to produce requested documents but its former officer files a mandamus action against it seeking to bar that disclosure (in this case on attorney-client privilege grounds) and names the record requester as a real party in interest, the mandamus suit is not itself considered a suit to enforce the Public Records Act, and hence attorney… Read More

The district court abused its discretion in denying attorney fees to the plaintiff, who owned the copyright in a film that defendant illegally downloaded and shared online, since the fact that plaintiff settled for only $750 in statutory damages didn't show limited success but did emphasize the need for an attorney fee award.  Read More

The Federal Trade Commission’s Holder Rule limits a creditor’s liability for claims by restricting the debtor’s total recovery (including attorney fees) to the amount paid by the debtor under the assigned contract. Read More

Attorney fees in Americans with Disabilities Act litigation are to be calculated using the lodestar method. Read More