AB 12

Under current law, in certain civil actions a court may grant reasonable

attorney fees to a prevailing party or may be asked to determine whether attorney

fees sought by a party are reasonable. Under this bill, to determine whether to award

attorney fees and whether the attorney fees are reasonable, the court must consider

several factors.

Under the bill, the factors that the court must consider include the time and

labor required by the attorney, the novelty and difficulty of the questions involved,

and the complexity of the case; the skills needed to perform the legal service properly;

the likelihood that the acceptance of the particular case prevented the attorney from

accepting other work; the fee customarily charged in the locality for similar legal

services; the amount involved in the legal dispute and the results obtained; the fees

granted in similar cases; the time limitations imposed by the client or by the

circumstances; the nature and length of the professional relationship with the client;

the experience, reputation, and ability of the attorney performing the services;

whether the fee is fixed or contingent; and the legitimacy of any defenses raised in

the case.

The bill also limits attorney fees to three times the amount of compensatory

damages awarded, except in cases where only nonmonetary relief is awarded or in

cases involving both compensatory damages and nonmonetary relief. The bill does

not place a limit on attorney fees in cases where only nonmonetary relief is awarded,

so long as the court considers the factors set forth in the bill. In cases where both

compensatory damages and nonmonetary relief is awarded, the bill sets forth a

presumption that a reasonable attorney fee is not more than three times the amount

of compensatory damages awarded, but allows a court to determine that a greater

amount is reasonable if the court considers all of the factors set forth in the bill.