California Court of Appeal

In an earlier appeal in this case, plaintiff succeeded when the court held that a tax statute discriminated on its face on the basis of an interstate element in violation of the commerce clause, and plaintiff thereafter sought attorney fees under section 1021.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure. The trial court's order denying attorney fees is reversed and remanded, where: 1) the tax lawsuit conferred a significant benefit on the general public or a large class of people; and 2) because the financial burden the suit placed on plaintiff was out of proportion to his personal stake in the litigation, it would be inappropriate to require attorney fees to be paid out of the proceeds of the litigation.

Appellate Information

• Decided 09/02/2014
• Published 09/02/2014

Judges

• Grimes

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel