Morrison v. Morrison
Michael appeals from the award of attorney fees to Mindey, contending that the trial court (1) erred by determining the amount of attorney fees based upon evidence of the amount Mindey paid to her attorneys, rather than on the attorneys’ billing records; (2) abused its discretion by failing to apportion the fees between those incurred in defending against Michael’s contractual claims and those incurred in defending against his tort claims; and (3) abused its discretion by awarding Mindey fees incurred in establishing her affirmative defense that Michael lacked standing to assert certain claims. Based upon a recent California Supreme Court case, we conclude the trial court abused its discretion by awarding fees that were incurred before the complaint was amended to add a claim for breach of a promissory note, because that award was made under an agreement that plaintiffs did not seek to enforce or interpret in their lawsuit. Instead, the agreement in this case was asserted as an a
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