Serrano v. Unruh

In Serrano v. Unruh (1982) 32 Cal.3d 621, the court held that an attorney's fees award under Code of Civil Procedure section 1021.5, which codifies the private-attorney-general theory "should ordinarily include compensation for all hours reasonably spent, including those relating solely to the fee." ( Id. at p. 624.) The court reasoned that the rationale of the private-attorney-general theory -- i.e., that private litigation to enforce important public policies should be actively promoted by awarding compensation to the successful plaintiffs' attorneys -- "will often be frustrated, sometimes nullified, if awards are diluted or dissipated by lengthy, uncompensated proceedings to fix or defend a rightful fee claim." ( Id. at p. 632.) The court concluded that "absent circumstances rendering the award unjust, fees recoverable under section 1021.5 ordinarily include compensation for all hours reasonably spent, including those necessary to establish and defend the fee claim." ( Id. at p. 639.) The Supreme Court addressed a fee award under the private attorney general statute. The court wrote, "A fee request that appears unreasonably inflated is a special circumstance permitting the trial court to reduce the award or deny one altogether. 'If . . . the Court were required to award a reasonable fee when an outrageously unreasonable one has been asked for, claimants would be encouraged to make unreasonable demands, knowing that the only unfavorable consequence of such misconduct would be reduction of their fee to what they should have asked in the first place. To discourage such greed, a severer reaction is needful . . . .'" (Id. at p. 635.)