City of Oakland v. Oakland Raiders

In this case we hold that in determining the amount of reasonable attorney fees in an eminent domain action, the trial court was not restricted to multiplying the number of hours of professional legal services rendered by the hourly rates charged by top law firms. The court, in exercising its discretion, could consider additional factors including the unusual character and difficulty of the litigation, the result achieved, the urgent time demands required by the litigation, its critical importance to the prevailing party and the financial burden of delay between incurring the fees and the court’s order fixing the amount and ordering payment.

The City of Oakland (City) appeals from an order requiring the City to pay the Oakland Raiders’ litigation expenses after the Raiders successfully opposed the City’s eminent domain action. We affirm.

The history of this litigation is well known. The City commenced proceedings in 1980 to acquire by eminent domain the property of the Raiders, a National Football League franchise. The Alameda County Superior Court issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting transfer of the franchise from Oakland. The case was transferred to Monterey…