Law Practice,
California Supreme Court,
California Courts of Appeal
May 9, 2017
Justices appear divided on fee clause interpretation
The issue was clearly stated: "Can a party's assertion of an affirmative-defense trigger a clause that awards attorney's fees to the party who prevails in an 'action' or 'proceeding' to enforce the contract?"
Louie H. Castoria
Partner
Kaufman, Dolowich & Voluck LLP
425 California St 21st Fl
San Francisco , CA 94104
Phone: (415) 926-7601
Fax: (415) 926-7601
Email: lcastoria@kdvlaw.com
UC Berkeley Boalt Hall
Louie is a mediator with CourtCall Online Dispute Resolution, a member of the Mediation Society, a mandatory settlement officer with the San Francisco County Superior Court, and an adjunct professor of law at Golden Gate University. He won his first U.S. Supreme Court on July 1, 2021.
On May 3 the California Supreme Court heard arguments in the fee-award case, Mountain Air Enterprises, LLC v. Sundowner Towers, LLC, S223536. The hearing took place fewer than 30 days after the court's decision in another such case, DisputeSuite.com, LLC. v. Scoreinc.com, S226652 (April 6, 2017), which defined, in some contexts, what it means to "prevail" in a civil suit for purposes of contractually based legal fee awards.
Review was granted in Mountain Air
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