Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Nov. 3, 2023
Incivility can cost you
The appeals court noted that the trial court did not have to find that the plaintiff’s counsel’s comments or behavior directly caused an increase in the defendant’s costs or the plaintiff’s requested fees. In the future, other courts may find themselves drawn to this larger “efficiency” theme.
Denise Madigan
Mediator
MadiganADR
Denise has been a full-time mediator and adjunct professor for over 25 years. She also has taught mediation to thousands of lawyers, judges and other professionals all over the world.
Last month, an appeals court upheld the reduction of an attorney’s fee request by over $450,000 based on his incivility in the course of litigation. This was not because the court linked specific behavior to specific costs but, instead, found the attorney’s conduct throughout the litigation to be evidence of poor “professional skill.” This, it wrote, justified a 40% downward adjustment in his lodestar. Although this case deals with fee-shifting under California’s Fai...
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