Wins

Court of Appeal affirms order denying in-house fees to attorneys

GMSR’s client sued his former attorneys for malpractice. The matter went to arbitration, and the arbitrator ruled in favor of the attorneys. They sought to recover attorney’s fees under their engagement letter with the client, but the arbitrator refused to allow them to recover fees for representing themselves. In an earlier appeal, the Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s denial of an order modifying the arbitration award to include their in-house fees. The attorneys then sought to recover their in-house fees for challenging the arbitration award in the trial court, which the trial court denied. The court of appeal affirmed the judgment in favor of GMSR’s client on the ground that the issue had already been decided in the prior appeal and was, therefore, law of the case.

California Court of Appeal Opinion – View Document