"Excellent Lawyers are Civil"

The California Court of Appeal for the Second District held: “Excellent Lawyers deserve higher fees, and excellent lawyers are civil. Sound logic and bitter experience support these points.” Karton v. Ari Design & Constr., Inc., 2021 WL 868427, at *7 (Cal. Ct. App. Mar. 9, 2021).

Check out this appellate panel addressing the incivility exhibited by counsel and adjusting lodestar as a result. Id. Here, the court emphasized: “It is a salutary incentive for counsel in fee-shifting cases to know their own low blows may return to hit them in the pocketbook.” Id. As a result, the appellate court affirmed incivility as sound grounds for reducing the requested attorney fee award from $300,000 to $90,000. Id.

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