However, Appeal Sanctions Not Imposed Against Appellants’ Attorney.
We can discern that the Second District, Division 2 is tired of the appeals in ASAP Copy and Print v. Canon Business Solutions, Inc., Case No. B249588 (2d Dist., Div. 2 June 23, 2014) (unpublished), all of which arose from a copier lease dispute. This was the fifth appeal.
Certain Respondents filed requests for attorney’s fees in prevailing on prior appeals, with the court granting all but about $10,000, for a total award of fees against Appellants of over $91,000, prompting the latest appeal.
Nothing changed. Appellants contended that a prior award of costs by the appellate court to respondents precluded an award of further fees on appeal; nope—read Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.278(d)(2), said the Court. Reasonableness of the awards was then raised, but appellants had only themselves to blame on this one—50 pages of prior consolidated appeals opinions and 32 volumes of exhibits in the Appellant’s Appendix.
However, Respondents wanted appeals sanctions against Appellant’s attorney, who had been sanctioned before. But, the reviewing court found that Respondents could be adequately compensated by filing appropriate fee motions for winning this appeal rather than expending additional court resources to find the present appeal frivolous in nature.