$5,000 Sanctions Award Against Attorney Reversed.
Attorney and client her were sanctioned for $5,000 under CCP § 128.7 and Family Code § 271 in Saidiner v. Jacobs-Jakubowicz, Case No. B275860 (2d Dist., Div. 7 Mar. 26, 2018) (unpublished). Attorney appealed the sanctions award, which was reversed on appeal.
The CCP § 128.7 sanctions could not stand because it was imposed without giving attorney the benefit of the 21-day safe harbor protection. The Family Code section 271 basis for the award was infirm, because sanctions can only be awarded against a party, not an attorney, with Division 7 endorsing the same result reached in Webb v. Webb, 12 Cal.App.5th 876, 883 [an earlier 2/8 DCA decision discussed in our June 14, 2017 post]. Furthermore, the section 128.7 sanctions were improperly directed to be paid to party’s counsel, rather than the party. (Webb v. Webb, 12 Cal.App.5th at 878.)