Nothing Showed Lawsuit Was Clearly Frivolous and No Billing Records Made Substantiation Possible.
In Kent v. Lake Don Pedro Community Services Dist., Case Nos. F068354/F069197 (5th Dist. May 14, 2015) (unpublished), a third appellate round, plaintiffs challenging Brown Act violations by the District were hit with an adverse fee award of $175,000 under Government Code section 54960.5, which requires a finding the lawsuit was clearly frivolous and totally lacking in merit. District supplied no billing records or task breakdown of the fee bill.
The Fifth District reversed the fee order, in a 3-0 decision authored by newly appointed Justice Smith.
The case was hardly frivolous, with the appellate court frowning on the trial judge’s finding of lack of merit based on plaintiff simply approving a form of judgment so saying—this was hardly an admission. It also found that plaintiffs had a colorable case of a Brown Act violation. Although there was a remand on the laches issue, the appellate court also noted that the District submitted no detailed billing records so it could not see how the number arrived could be rationally reached by the trial judge.