Supreme Court of California

A prevailing plaintiff is not entitled to an award of expert witness fees in addition to attorney's fees under Code of Civil Procedure section 1021.5, which provides that upon motion, a court may award attorneys' fees to a successful party in any action which has resulted in the enforcement of an important right affecting the public interest if a significant benefit has been conferred on the general public.

Appellate Information

• Decided 02/28/2008
• Published 02/28/2008

Judges

• MORENO, J.

Court

• Supreme Court of California

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Law Office of Thomas K. Bourke, Thomas K. Bourke, Rizwan R. Ramji, Los Angeles;  Law Office of Lorraine L. Loder, Lorraine L. Loder, Los Angeles;  Law Office of Richard M. Pearl and Richard M. Pearl, Berkeley, for Plaintiffs and Appellants., Brad Seligman, Julia Campins, Edith Matthai, Berkeley;  David Blair-Loy;  Peter Eliasberg;  Alan Schlosser;  Ken Kresse;  Luke W. Cole;  Linda Kilb;  Irma Herrera;  Adrienne Bloch, Oakland;  Trent Orr;  David Greene;  Alan Ramo;  Luz Buitrago;  Matthew Goldberg, San Francisco;  Marci Seville;  Julia R. Wilson;  Richard Rothschild, Los Angeles;  John O'Toole, Dara Schur, Sacramento;  Lisa Jaskol;  Michael Wall;  John Affeldt, San Francisco;  Kyra Kazantzis;  Michael Rawson;  and Alice Bussiere for The Impact Fund, Los Angeles County Bar Association, American Civil Liberties Union, California Center for Law and the Deaf, Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment, Communities for Better Environment, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, Disability Rights Legal Center-Civil Rights Litigation Project, Earthjustice, Equal Rights Advocates, First Amendment Project, Golden Gate University School of Law-Environmental Law and Justice Clinic, Law Center for Families, Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, Legal Aid Association of California, Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center, National Center for Youth Law, Natural Resources Defense Council, Protection and Advocacy, Inc., Public Advocates, Public Counsel, Public InterestLaw Project, Western Center on Law and Poverty, Women's Employment Rights Clinic of Golden Gate University School of Law and Youth Law Center as Amici Curiae on behalf of Plaintiffs and Appellants., The Sturdevant Law Firm, James C. Sturdevant and Mark T. Johnson, San Francisco, for National Association of Consumer Advocates as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Plaintiffs and Appellants., Steven G. Ingram, for Consumer Attorneys of California as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Plaintiffs and Appellants.


• For Appellees:
  
• Morrison & Foerster, Charles E. Patterson, John Sobieski, Howard B. Soloway, Los Angeles, and Phillip Bronson, Encino, for Defendant and Appellant.