[Download] "Northington v. Davis" by Supreme Court Of California # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Northington v. Davis
- Author : Supreme Court Of California
- Release Date : January 03, 1979
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 58 KB
Description
This case, like Woodland Hills Residents Assn., Inc. v. City Council, ante, page 917 [154 Cal. Rptr. 503, 593 P.2d 200], presents a question as to the propriety of an attorney fee award in public interest litigation. In this case, as in Woodland Hills, at the time the trial court passed on plaintiffs motion for attorney fees neither statutory nor judicial authority in California sanctioned an attorney fee award under the private attorney general theory, and the trial court consequently did not grant fees on that theory. Unlike Woodland Hills, however, the trial court in this case did award attorney fees against the city defendants on the basis of the substantial benefit theory. The city now appeals from the attorney fee award, contending that under this courts analysis of the substantial benefit doctrine in Serrano v. Priest (1977) 20 Cal. 3d 25, 38-42 [141 Cal. Rptr. 315, 569 P.2d 1303] (Serrano III), the award of fees