Stadium Promenade, LLC v. Auld Irisher, Orange, LLC CA4/3

INTRODUCTION

Landlord Stadium Promenade, LLC (Stadium), sued tenant Auld Irisher, Orange, LLC (Auld Irisher), for unpaid rent of a lease of restaurant premises. Stadium also sued the lease’s two guarantors, Terrence Branley and Eric Johnson, to collect the rent. Auld Irisher, in turn, cross-complained for breach of the lease and nuisance, based in part on allegation of a pervasive smell of sewage that drove customers away. Johnson settled with Stadium, and the case went to trial on the complaint against Auld Irisher and Branley and the cross-complaint against Stadium. The jury returned a verdict in Stadium’s favor on all the contract-based claims, including those in the cross-complaint. It found in Auld Irisher’s favor on the tort claim for nuisance. After some adjustments for set-offs and discounts, Auld Irisher came out ahead by about $13,000. The lease contained an attorney fee provision, and both sides moved for their fees. The trial court denied Stadium’s motion and granted Auld Irisher’s motion for the fees expended in connection with the nuisance claim. Stadium has appealed from this order. We affirm in part and reverse in part. Stadium was unquestionably the “party…