de la Cuesta v. Benham, 193 Cal. App. 4th 1287 (2011)

Citation: de la Cuesta v. Benham, 193 Cal. App. 4th 1287 (2011)
Parent Document: de la Cuesta v. Benham, 193 Cal. App. 4th 1287 (2011)
Jurisdiction: California (state)
Effective Date: 2011-03-29
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/5810133/de-la-cuesta-v-benham/ ↗

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Hilltop, supra, 28 Cal.App.4th 462 is notable for the chutzpah of the party seeking fees—no wonder that party failed to show any abuse of discretion for not having been declared a prevailing party: The case arose out of a squabble in the movie industry over an uncompleted film. A group of what appears from the opinion to have been investors (and apparently some production companies) was sued by what appears to have been two firms controlled by a particular promoter, to prevent the investors from using the uncompleted film. The investors and production companies cross-complained for breach of contract, and included alter ego allegations against the promoter. The complaint filed by the promoter-controlled firms was dismissed, but the investors and a production company recovered damages of over $150,000 and $59,000 respectively against the promoter’s firms. However, the promoter prevailed on his own behalf on the alter ego allegations, so he claimed attorney fees as *1298prevailing party. Needless to say, he didn’t get them. Under the circumstances, said the court, the “result was a draw” and the court invoked Kytasty’s good news bad news language. (Id. at p. 468.)

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