Lim

Lim v. Spirtos

Good Law
310 F. App'x 74
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitJanuary 13, 2009No. 06-56533California607 words

Opinion

Lead Opinion

MEMORANDUM ***

Nicola M. Spirtos appeals from the district court’s order awarding $5,727 in attorneys’ fees to Peter C. Lim, et al., for improperly removing this case to federal court. Defendants allege that the award of fees was improper, and the award was excessive; that plaintiffs did not follow proper procedures in pleading for fees; that defendants did not receive a chance to appeal the subsequent remand back to state court, and that plaintiffs’ counsel has a conflict of interest on this matter and must recuse himself. We review the district court’s determinations of law de novo and its findings of fact for clear error. Husain v. Olympic Airways, 316 F.3d 829, 835 (9th Cir.2002). We review attorneys’ fees for abuse of discretion. Merritt v. Mackey. 932 F.2d 1317, 1324 (9th Cir.1991). We affirm.

I.

Defendants propose that removal to federal court was reasonable according to Grable & Sons Metal Products, Inc. v. Darue Engineering & Mfg., 545 U.S. 308, 312 , 125 S.Ct. 2363 , 162 L.Ed.2d 257 (2005), but this is incorrect. Gruble did not deal with Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) lawsuits, and defendants have not shown that any “substantial questions of…

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