An attorney ([[Plaintiff]]) had a dispute with an unlicensed contractor ([[Defendant]]) over a remodeling project. The attorney sued the contractor and won a substantial judgment due to the contractor being unlicensed, which required a refund of all payments plus penalties. The attorney sought attorney fees and costs of $527,197 but was awarded $90,000 by the trial court, citing the attorney’s lack of civility. The appellate court upheld the award, emphasizing that civility in litigation is essential to efficient and cost-effective dispute resolution, and incivility can lead to unnecessary and protracted legal battles, harming all parties involved. The court stated: > "Attorney skill is a traditional touchstone for deciding whether to adjust a [[Lodestar|lodestar]]. Civility is an aspect of skill. Excellent lawyers deserve higher fees, and excellent lawyers are civil. Sound logic and bitter experience support these points. Civility is an ethical component of professionalism. Civility is desirable in litigation, not only because it is ethically required for its own sake, but also because it is socially advantageous: it lowers the costs of dispute resolution. The American legal profession exists to help people resolve disputes cheaply, swiftly, fairly, and justly. Incivility between counsel is sand in the gears. Incivility can rankle relations and thereby increase the friction, extent, and cost of litigation. Calling opposing counsel a liar, for instance, can invite destructive reciprocity and generate needless controversies. Seasoning a disagreement with avoidable irritants can turn a minor conflict into a costly and protracted war. All those human hours, which could have been put to socially productive uses, instead are devoted to the unnecessary war and are lost forever. All sides lose, as does the justice system, which must supervise the hostilities. By contrast, civility in litigation tends to be efficient by allowing disputants to focus on core disagreements and to minimize tangential distractions. It is a salutary incentive for counsel in fee-shifting cases to know their own low blows may return to hit them in the pocketbook." Karton v. Ari Design & Construction, Inc. (2021) 61 Cal.App.5th 734, 276 Cal.Rptr.3d 46 ![[B298003M.PDF]]