Defendant Prevails On Non-Existent Contract
Sometimes, the law simply gets “curiouser and curiouser”. Last week, I happened across a decision by the Fourth District Court of Appeal that reached the remarkable conclusion that a defendant was the...
View ArticleDo Some Companies Already Have Fee-Shifting Provisions (And Not Know It)?
A lot of folks these days are arguing and writing about fee-shifting bylaws as if they were some kind of novel and sudden irruption, like Athena bursting from Zeus’ skull. This overlooks the existence...
View ArticleIt’s Time To Put A Stop To Fee-Shifting (But Not In the Way You Might Think)
The problem with “fee-shifting bylaws” starts with the name. A better name might be “anti fee-shifting bylaws” because they end the fee shifting that otherwise applies. Without fee-shifting bylaws,...
View ArticleHere’s One Way To Recover Attorneys’ Fees Without Adopting A Fee Shifting Bylaw
With the ongoing hullabaloo concerning the legislative demise of fee shifting bylaw provisions under Delaware law, little attention has been paid to California law. More importantly, no one seems to...
View ArticleCourt Holds Indemnity Provision Provides No Right To Attorney Fees
Contractual indemnity provisions often broadly provide for the payment of the indemnified party’s attorney fees. In Alki v. Superior Court, 2016 Cal. App. LEXIS 892 (Cal. Ct. App. 2016), for example,...
View ArticleDismissal Based On Forum Non Conveniens Does Not Trigger Fee Shifting
California generally follows the “American Rule” with respect to attorney’s fees. Trope v. Katz, 11 Cal.4th 274, 278 (1995). Under the American Rule, each party to a lawsuit must ordinarily pay his...
View ArticleHow To Confer A $6.9 Million Benefit For Less Than A Half Dollar
In March 2011, the three-member compensation committee of EchoStar Corporation awarded options to purchase 1.5 million shares of company stock to its Chairman, Charles W. Ergen. According to...
View Article
