$331,210.16 Fee Request Rebuffed.
School district in Camberos v. Lewis, Case No. B230562 (2d Dist., Div. 2 Oct. 9, 2013) (unpublished) won a personal injury case through a nonsuit motion, but was denied a fee request of $331,210.16 under Code of Civil Procedure section 1038, a statute allow for fee recovery for a “bad faith” government tort claim case where certain dispositive motions are granted (such as a nonsuit).
District appealed, but did not win. District provided an inadequate record on appeal by not providing plaintiff’s fee opposition papers. However, on the merits, the lower court’s denial was justified based on this reasoning: plaintiff had ineffective assistance of counsel, which did not equate to “bad faith” given some evidence to underpin the case apparently lost by counsel’s conduct.