Attorney's Fees

SCOTX: Attorney Fees Need Not Be Superseded on Appeal

by Smith Law Group, P.C. on 5/20/2013

In November 2011, I posted about whether attorney fees must be superseded to stay execution of a judgment pending appeal. Today, in In re Nalle Plastics Family Limited Partnership (No. 11-0903), the Texas Supreme Court...more

Last Minute Amendment By Counsel To Augment Fee Claim Rejected By Court

by David J. McMahon | Barger & Wolen on 5/16/2013

In Duchrow v. Forrest, 2013 DJAR 5534 (2013) the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District decided a unique fee claim arising in a procedural context. ...more

Attorneys' Fees Provisions: Not a Blank Check to Overreach

by Anne Kane | Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP on 5/16/2013

In the American legal system, attorneys’ fees and costs are not recoverable as damages unless expressly authorized by statute. Legal fees are simply a cost of doing business unless the parties to a contract agree otherwise....more

Estée Lauder v. OneBeacon Insurance Group – Expanding the Scope of Discovery in Bad Faith Cases

by Jennifer Clark, Stacey Farrell, Angelo Savino | Cozen O'Connor on 5/15/2013

On April 15, 2013, the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, granted the insured’s request for the production of certain claims file material and previously sealed discovery in Estée Lauder Inc. v....more

Appellate Notes: Week of April 18th

by Edward McCreery III | Pullman & Comley, LLC on 5/14/2013

Welcome to our Supreme and Appellate Court summaries webpage. On this page, I provide abbreviated summaries of decisions from the Connecticut appellate courts which highlight important issues and developments in Connecticut...more

Use of Additional Insured Status to Reduce Attorneys' Fees

by Conrad Lazo | Fowler White Boggs P.A. on 5/8/2013

Although insurance requirements are typically addressed in most construction contracts, they are often given minimum attention. On the other hand, attorneys’ fees are always a major concern. Notwithstanding, requiring...more

Bad Faith Liability Exposure: an Anvil, a Feather or an Occasional Lever?

by Lynda A. Bennett | Lowenstein Sandler LLP on 5/8/2013

Any company faced with a coverage denial inevitably asks the question: Will the insurance company change its position if we sue them for bad faith? The short answer to the question is usually no. In general, insurance...more

Attorney Fees Not Available In Mixed Motive Retaliation Claims Under Title VII, Seventh Circuit Rules

by Michael Newman | Barger & Wolen on 5/8/2013

Under Title VII, in “mixed motive” discrimination cases (i.e., discrimination motivated in part, but not entirely, by an impermissible factor), an employer may limit Plaintiff’s recovery where it can show that it would have...more

Costs and Attorney Fees Awarded In the Same Action in Idaho

by Christina Ahn | Sedgwick LLP on 5/7/2013

In Employers Mutual Casualty Co. v. Donnelly, No. — P.3d —-, 2013 WL 1693661 (Idaho Apr. 19, 2013), a majority of the Idaho Supreme Court affirmed a declaratory judgment action decision that an insurer was required to pay...more

Recent Decisions Show Courts Closely Scrutinizing Fee Awards in M&A Litigation Settlements

by James Beha, Joel Haims | Morrison & Foerster LLP on 4/30/2013

Shareholder class and derivative suits quickly follow virtually every significant merger announcement. The vast majority of those suits that are not dismissed settle quickly, with the defendant corporation typically agreeing...more

Your Last Resort: The Unpaid Account

by Joe Virene | Looper Reed & McGraw, P.C. on 4/29/2013

A suit on an unpaid account against your customer will likely entitle you to the principal balance plus interest and attorney fees. But a suit on an unpaid account is only as good as your customer’s ability to satisfy the...more

Freddie Mac Announces Numerous Servicing Policy Updates

by BuckleySandler LLP on 4/26/2013

On April 15, Freddie Mac issued Bulletin Number 2013-6, which announces numerous revisions to servicing requirements. The bulletin updates the allowable amounts for attorney fees for default-related legal services and details...more

Government Agrees to Pay $2.5 Million to Settle Contract Dispute

by Nancie G. Marzulla on 4/25/2013

On April 24, 2013, the United States agreed to settle a breach of contract lawsuit, International Industrial Park, Inc. v. United States, Case No. 09-691C, stipulating to the entry of final judgment and to payment of...more

CFC Dismisses Takings Claims Based on Allegations of Government Wrongdoing

by Nancie G. Marzulla on 4/25/2013

In Meschkow v. United States, the plaintiff, an attorney, argued that that Government had taken his property without just compensation when it disclosed the contents of an Order to Show Cause that had been sealed as...more

Illinois Supreme Court to Decide Condominium Dispute on Thursday

by Kirk Jenkins | Sedgwick LLP on 4/23/2013

The Illinois Supreme Court just announced that on Thursday morning, it will file its opinion in Palm v. 2800 Lake Shore Drive Condominium Association, a dispute over an owner’s right to compel the production of documents by...more

Real Estate Law Alert - Court Dismisses "Buyer's Remorse" Claim and Awards Developer $577,000 in Attorneys' Fees

by Matthew Zangwill | Ruskin Moscou Faltischek on 4/23/2013

Back in Autumn, 2010, we wrote that purchasers of condominium units in the New York metropolitan area were invoking the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act, 15 U.S.C. §§1701-20 (ILSA), to cancel their agreements to...more

U.S. Supreme Court: Equity Cannot Trump ERISA Plan Terms in ERISA Reimbursement Case

by D. Michael Reilly | Lane Powell PC - ERISA Law on 4/18/2013

The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday strengthened the ability of employer health insurance plans to recoup payments for medical expenses paid for an injured plan participant who later sues to recover damages from a third...more

The U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Plan Sponsor’s Recovery Of Participant Damages Award

by Jeffrey P. Cairns | Leonard, Street and Deinard - Employee... on 4/18/2013

On April 16, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in U.S. Airways, Inc. v. McCutchen finding in favor of U.S. Airways in its quest to recover $66,866 in medical expenses incurred by its employee as a result of a...more

Attorneys' Fees Reduce ERISA Plan's Recovery From Common Fund

by James Hazlehurst, Robert Renner | Barger & Wolen on 4/17/2013

The United States Supreme Court ruled today that absent an express provision to the contrary, the amount an ERISA plan can recover from a plan participant’s lawsuit against a third-party tortfeasor must be reduced...more

Alabama Legislative Update – Week 9: Bills Make Significant Progress in the House

by Denise Killebrew, Dennis Nabors | Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell &... on 4/16/2013

Legislators convened for a three-day work week that ended in early adjournment on Thursday afternoon as lawmakers left Montgomery to beat anticipated severe weather. Day 20 concluded a week that saw progress on several...more

California District Court Rejects Proposed Class Action Settlement

by Greg Mersol | BakerHostetler on 4/15/2013

It is axiomatic that the class action vehicle exists for the benefit of the claimants. An inherent conflict of interest may arise between the class and plaintiffs’ counsel over the issue of attorney fees, and resolution of...more

A Thousand Dollars Per Hour: Wrong Focus

by Patrick Lamb | Valorem Law Group LLC on 4/15/2013

The Wall Street Journal recently reported on the increasing number of BigLaw partners charging more than $1000 per hour. My thoughts on hourly billing are well know, but the criticism of these rates as excessive misses the...more

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act—Hope on the Horizon for Debt Collectors?

by Joseph Guarino, Patrick Lucignani | Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. on 4/10/2013

Debt collection is big business—easily a multibillion-dollar industry. In 2012, approximately 30 million individuals, or 14 percent of American adults, had debt (averaging about $1,500) that was or had been subject to the...more

Superstorm Sandy Is Causing New York and New Jersey Legislators to Reconsider Passing Legislation that Would Establish a Private...

by Melissa Brill, Kellyn Muller | Cozen O'Connor on 4/5/2013

Policyholders in New York and New Jersey presently have no private right of action against insurance companies for alleged violations of each state’s respective statutory claim handling guidelines – New York’s Unfair Claim...more

An American Export: Contingency Fees Adopted in the U.K.

by Mark Chudleigh | Sedgwick LLP on 4/5/2013

It has taken nearly 20 years for the United Kingdom to move from a time when it was unlawful (or champertous) for a lawyer to share in the fruits of litigation, to the introduction of U.S.-style contingency fee arrangements. ...more

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