Science Applications International Corp. v. Superior Court

SAIC (plaintiff) contracted with the State (defendant) to build a computer-aided dispatch system for the highway patrol; after the State terminated the contract and the parties litigated, a jury found SAIC breached and awarded the State over $1 million, plus attorney fees and over $700,000 in litigation expenses. On appeal, the Court of Appeal reversed the attorney-fee award and remanded to reconsider litigation expenses, suggesting most expenses should be disallowed as ordinary costs; on remand, the trial court removed expert-witness fees but still assessed $464,908 in litigation costs against SAIC, prompting SAIC to petition for a writ of mandate rather than pursue another ordinary appeal.