C.C.P. 874.010(a) allows for the recovery of those attorney fees incurred by a party for the common benefit. Moreover, California law is well settled and authorizes the recovery and reimbursement for those attorney fees incurred by defendant for the common benefit, to the same degree that plaintiff’s attorney fees are recoverable. See Riley v. Turpin, (1960) 53 Cal. 2d 598, 603. Therefore, if a defendant in a partition action or receivership action expends attorney fees that inur to the common benefit, then the defendant has the right to seek reimbursement of those fees pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure § 874.010.
Tag: Partition Attorney Los Angeles; Los Angeles Partition Attorney
Partition Action – Award of Attorney Fees Is Not Automatic
California Code of Civil Procedure § 874.010(a) allows for the recovery of those attorney fees incurred by a party for the common benefit. Moreover, California law is well settled that the award of attorney fees is proper when the evidence presented indicates that the legal services performed were for the common benefit of the parties to the suit. See Stutz v. Davis, (1981) 122 Cal. App. 3d 1, 5; see also Stewart v. Abernathy, (1944) 62 Cal. App. 2d 429, 433 (Only those fees “expended for the common benefit” shall be recoverable.)
However, the party seeking the recovery of attorney fees bears the burden of demonstrating how the fees incurred were expended for the common benefit. In other words, not all fees incurred will be held to be incurred for the common benefit. In a recent Partition Action in which our Los Angeles Partition lawyers represented a defendant, we successfully reduced the amount of attorney fees awarded to the Plaintiff by demonstrating that several thousand dollars of claimed attorney fees were not incurred for the common benefit. Specifically, attorney fees incurred for case management conference proceedings were disallowed by the trial court because the court characterized such proceedings as “administrative.” The trial court also dissallowed fees incurred for attorney client communciation, parking and other fees that clearly did not benefit the common good.
In enacting C.C.P. 874.010(a), the California Legislature was very clear in requiring a showing of “common benefit” before awarding attorney fees. Thus, the party seeking the attorney fees award must demonstrate to the trial court that the fees sought indeed benefited the common good.