A non-California attorney who has not been admitted pro hac vice may not recover attorney fees as plaintiff’s class action counsel. In Golba v. Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc. (2015) 238 Cal.App.4th 1251.
After settling a class action, plaintiff ’s counsel sought $210,000 in attorney fees. The trial court awarded only $11,000 in fees aft er disallowing fees for work performed by non-California counsel who had not been admitted pro hac vice. The out-of-state lawyer appealed. The Court of Appeal (Fourth Dist.) affirmed, holding that counsel could not recover fees based upon the unlicensed practice of law in California and that co-representation by California counsel did not render non-California counsel’s work compensable. I hate to say it, but Dick’s was still able to screw the lawyer!