Attorney Fee-Shifting Litigation
Obtaining and Contesting Attorney Fees and Cost Awards
Recording of a 90-minute CLE webinar with Q&A
This CLE seminar will review the legal standards for attorney fee shifting, including key case law developments and how to determine reasonable attorneys fees and costs. The panel will outline best practices for obtaining and contesting fee and cost awards.
Outline
- Standards for attorney fee awards
- Prevailing party
- Lodestar approach
- Factors increasing or decreasing awards
- Forum rates
- Effect of prior settlement negotiations
- Maximizing and opposing fees awards
- Reasonable fees and forum rates
- Apportionment of claims
- Inextricably linked claims
- Reasonable costs
- Proving fees and costs
- Procedural standards
- Use of expert witnesses
- Affidavit testimony
- Auditing of timesheet entries
- Preserving fee awards on appeal
Benefits
The panel will review these and other key questions:
- How have courts applied the lodestar approach to awarding attorney fees?
- How do you apportion fees between claims entitled to fees and those not—and how inextricably intertwined claims can maximize an attorney fees award?
- What effect does prior rejection of a settlement offer have on the prevailing party's attorney fee award?
- Under what circumstances is it appropriate to increase a lodestar award based on quality of performance and results obtained?
Faculty

Gregory M. Bergman
Shareholder
Bergman & Dacey
He engages in complex trials and appeals in the areas of business, construction, labor and employment, environmental,... | Read More
He engages in complex trials and appeals in the areas of business, construction, labor and employment, environmental, real property, attorney fee disputes, commercial, professional liability, securities, and insurance litigation. He has tried numerous cases to the court and jury in all levels of the State and the Federal Court systems in California.
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John P. Dacey
Shareholder
Bergman & Dacey
He represents numerous general contractors and owners, such as school districts, sanitary districts, non-profit and... | Read More
He represents numerous general contractors and owners, such as school districts, sanitary districts, non-profit and private corporations. He has been litigating complex jury and bench trials, as well as appeals in state and federal court, for over 19 years. He successfully litigated over 500 private and public construction related disputes.
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