Estate of Johnson, Case Nos. A134733 et al. (1st Dist., Div. 3 Sept. 18, 2014) (unpublished).
An attorney was sanctioned for $7,290 (representing fees incurred by another litigant) for making a false allegation in a probate Third Amended Petition. The basis for the award was under CCP § 128.7. The award was reversed because the appellate court determined that the germane allegation was not without evidentiary basis.
T.R. & B Property, LLC v. Lincoln Best Hotel, Inc., Case No. B249168 (2d Dist., Div. 4 Sept. 18, 2014) (unpublished).
Plaintiff bringing a losing SLAPP motion was hit with $5,122.50 in attorney’s fees because the lower court decided the motion was frivolous. No change on appeal, because a contractual dispute over nonpayment of money is not protected activity, with many cases establishing this so that the motion was indeed frivolous.
Marriage of Smith, Case No. E056872 (4th Dist., Div. 2 Sept. 18, 2014) (unpublished).
Ex-wife was sanctioned $3,309 in actual fees incurred by the other side and $32,500 in sanctions for disobeying a prior court order prohibiting dissemination of third party, with ex-husband’s current wife being the third party and beneficiary of the sanctions order. Only the $3,309 component of the order held up, because it constituted actual reasonable fees incurred by the third party. However, the $32,500 component was pure “punishment,” not countenanced under the discovery statutes. (Welgoss v. End, 252 Cal.App.2d 982, 992 (1967).) No other bases justified the award, not the inherent authority of the court, Family Code section 271 (no proper notice provided), or CCP § 128.7 (which does not encompass discovery disputes).