Bui v. Nguyen
Oct 28, 2014OUTCOME: Appeal Won in Favor of Client
On October 28, 2014, the California Court of Appeal reversed a Santa Clara County trial court’s order awarding private attorney general fees in an opinion certified for publication. Representing the de ... fendants, San Jose-based Hi-Tech Dental, Inc. and its owner Trang K. Nguyen, the Jaurigue Law Group argued that the trial court erred in its decision awarding attorneys’ fees to the plaintiff in the amount of $126,974.13. At the trial court level, the plaintiff argued that attorneys’ fees against defendant Nguyen were justified under section 1021.5 of the California Code of Civil Procedure. However, in an uphill battle, JLG argued at the appellate level that the statutory requirements of section 1021.5 had not, in fact, been met and that the trial court abused its discretion in awarding fees against JLG’s client. Associate Justice Miguel Marquez, who wrote the decision, agreed with JLG and found that the trial court abused its discretion, stating that the plaintiff failed to meet his burden in demonstrating each element of section 1021.5, namely, that the necessity-of-private-enforcement element had not been met. Presiding Justice Conrad L. Rushing and Associate Justice Eugene M. Premo concurred.
