4/1 DCA Agrees With 2/6 DCA Opinion in Settle.
Plaintiff’s counsel in Suarez v. City of Corona, Case No. D065949 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Aug. 29, 2014) (published), a prominent Orange County firm, must have reeled when a trial judge jointly and severally assessed $102,296.20 in fees and $3,753.85 in costs against both plaintiff and plaintiff’s counsel. The fees were imposed under CCP § 1038, a fee-shifting provision allowing governmental entities to seek fees/costs whenever unmeritorious and frivolous litigation is initiated/prosecuted against such entities.
Well, the 4/1 DCA reversed the award against plaintiff’s counsel, finding it was not authorized by statute and following the conclusion reached recently by the 2/6 DCA in Settle v. State of California, 228 Cal.App.4th 215, 218 (2014) [reviewed in our July 24, 2014 post].