In a unanimous decision filed on Thursday, November 20, the California Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Court of Appeals in Vasquez v. State of California, as LAAC's amicus brief had asked the Court to do.

This decision affirms the trial court's award of attorney fees to the plaintiff. The Court held that in order to receive attorney fees under the "private attorney general" statute, the plaintiff was not required to engage in pre-litigation settlement efforts.

The "catalyst theory" permits a court to award attorney fees even when litigation does not result in a judicial resolution if the defendant changes its behavior substantially because of, and in the manner sought by, the litigation. In order to recover attorney fees, the plaintiff in a "catalyst case" must have engaged in a reasonable attempt to settle its dispute with the defendant prior to litigation. The Court held that that rule does not apply to non-catalyst cases, and that Vasquez was a non-catalyst case because the plaintiff successfully obtained a stipulated injunction that was entered as a judgment.

Here's a link to the decision: http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/documents/S143710.PDF

Feel free to contact me with any questions.

Thank you,

Leslie Alexander