Sacks v. City of Oakland examines fees under Code of Civil Procedure section 1021.5 and common fund doctrine

For those interested in the extent to which attorney's fees are recoverable under two theories, the common fund doctrine and Code of Civil Procedure § 1021.5, a decision issued today by the Court of Appeal (First Appellate District, Division One) reviews those bases for fee awards.  In Sacks v. City of Oakland (December 10, 2010), the Court of Appeal reviewed a judgment after a bench trial in a mandate action challenging the allocation of and use of tax revenue collected by the City of Oakland pursuant to Measure Y.  The decision is interesting mostly for the fact that it discusses the scenarios under which attorney's fees are either unlikely to be awarded or are entirely unavailable.