REMEDIES FOR UNFAIR PRACTICES; MISCELLANEOUS REMEDIAL PROVISIONS – Attorneys Fees and Costs

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In assessing whether to award legal expenses for sanctionable litigation conduct, PERB applies a standard akin to Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. (Sacramento City Unified School District (2020) PERB Decision No. 2749, p. 11.) Separately, standard make-whole principles warrant awarding a charging party reasonable legal expenses it incurred in a separate proceeding to “remedy, lessen or stave off the impacts of the other party’s unfair practice.” (Id. at p. 11.) In that instance, the charging party need not establish the Rule 11-type factors. (Ibid.) When PERB awards legal expenses, either as make-whole relief or as a litigation sanction, a party may seek reimbursement for “virtually any item for which a law firm customarily bills a client, including, inter alia, billable professional services (meaning attorney and law clerk services and certain ‘paralegal’ services that may be performed by legal assistants with or without a paralegal license), as well as incidental costs such as filing fees, electronic research fees, or fees for service of process.” (Id. at pp. 14-15.) PERB also awards pre-judgment and post-judgment interest on legal expenses. (Id. at p. 19.)