Kerper

DISCUSSION

General legal principles

Sauer argues the trial court abused its discretion in awarding attorney fees because

it did not consider appropriate legal factors such as the skill and experience of the

attorneys, the nature of the litigation, and the reasonableness and success of counsels'

efforts. We reject Sauer's arguments.

In assessing attorney fees, the trial court "begins with a touchstone or lodestar

figure, based on the 'careful compilation of the time spent and reasonable hourly

compensation of each attorney . . . involved in the presentation of the case.' " (Ketchum

v. Moses (2001) 24 Cal.4th 1122, 1131-1132.) "[T]he lodestar is the basic fee for

comparable legal services in the community; it may be adjusted by the court based on

factors including, as relevant herein, (1) the novelty and difficulty of the questions

involved, (2) the skill displayed in presenting them, (3) the extent to which the nature of

the litigation precluded other employment by the attorneys, [and] (4) the contingent

nature of the fee award. [Citation.] The purpose of such adjustment is to fix a fee at the

fair market value for the particular action."…