Su v. Plaza del Sol
Kyung Ja Su filed this wrongful death action against Plaza del Sol, LLC (Plaza del Sol), Value Investments, Inc. and Victor Liong (collectively with Plaza del Sol, the Defendants) after her husband was killed in a shooting at the Defendants' shopping center, where she and her husband operated their business. The Defendants cross-claimed against Mrs. Su for express indemnity pursuant to her lease agreement with them and for declaratory relief, although their cross-claims were later dismissed by the court. At trial a jury found in Mrs. Su's favor and the trial court thereafter granted Mrs. Su's request to recover her attorney fees incurred in defending against the cross-complaint pursuant to an attorney fee provision in the lease agreement, but denied her request for fees incurred in pursuing the complaint.
Plaza del Sol and Mrs. Su both appeal the resulting judgment. Plaza del Sol contends that, as a matter of law, it had no duty to undertake security measures to protect shopping center tenants and patrons from a drive-by shooting and that there was no substantial evidence to support the jury's finding of causation. Mrs. Su contends that the superior court erred in denying her request for attorney fees incurred in prosecuting her complaint.
Court find Plaza del Sol's arguments unavailing and affirm the judgment in favor of Mrs. Su. Court conclude, however, that the superior court erred in denying Mrs. Su's request to recover her attorney fees incurred in prosecuting her complaint and reverse the judgment in that respect.
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