Today's notice of forthcoming opinions states that the Supreme Court will be handing down its opinion in the Vasquez attorneys' fees case tomorrow morning. Vasquez v. Superior Court, case no. S143710 (argued 09/03/08). This is the issue on review:
The court limited review to the following issue: Does the rule that, in order to receive attorney fees under Code of Civil Procedure section 1021.5, the plaintiff must first reasonably attempt to settle the matter short of litigation, apply to this case? (See Graham v. DaimlerChrysler Corp. (2004) 34 Cal.4th 553, 557; Grimsley v. Board of Supervisors (1985) 169 Cal.App.3d 960, 966–967.)
If the question is answered in the affirmative, it stands to expand the pre-filing notice requirement to cases beyond catalyst theory cases, which were addressed in Graham. For more on the case, see this blog post. When the opinion is handed down, it should be available at this link.
Comments