The Court of Appeal has to decide who's the prevailing party in the underlying litigation. The second paragraph of the opinion begins by noting: "This is the fifth appeal in litigation over the assignment fee
that began in 2006."
That sentence may provide a hint as to what the court's going to do. Because this thing has gone on a long time. And the easiest way to put a merciful end to it is simply to affirm.
Which is precisely what the Court of Appeal does.
That resolution also makes sense. Both sides won. But both sides lost. If the trial court thought the final judgment was essentially a wash -- which sounds right, since the ultimate result was in between what both sides sought -- you can see why the Court of Appeal might not want to disturb that finding.
And finally put the thing to bed.
