Ramon

Martin Ramon brought a class action to prevent the County of Santa Clara (County) from billing individuals for the cost of their arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs when there was no emergency “incident” as the term is used in Government Code section 53150. After the parties entered into a settlement agreement that provided injunctive and declaratory relief to the class, the trial court awarded attorney’s fees to Ramon pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 1021.5. On appeal, Ramon challenges the amount of the attorney’s fees award. He contends that the trial court erred in concluding that the case of Connerly v. State Personnel Bd. (2006) 37 Cal.4th 1169 [ 39 Cal.Rptr.3d 788 , 129 P.3d 1 ] (Connerly) precluded the recovery of attorney’s fees to Ramon for work performed by his counsel in opposing the County’s amicus curiae brief in a related lawsuit that resolved the issue in the present case. We agree and remand for a determination of the appropriate fee award for such work.

The County cross-appeals and argues that the trial court abused its discretion in awarding attorney’s fees for services provided by Ramon’s counsel in a previous action…