The appellate record, in this case transcripts of oral hearings, was critical in the disposition of the appeal in Marriage of Perry, Case No. F062331 (5th Dist. Feb. 1, 2013) (unpublished).
Although wife cross-appealed from a denial of some attorney’s fees requests, the record showed that the first judge denied needs-based fees or Family Code section 271 sanctions, such that the second judge only had to endorse those prior rulings. As for her request for fees under Family Code section 6344 (which provides for a fee award in domestic violence proceedings), the second judge’s denial of fees encompassed that request, given that a 6344 fee award is based on financial equity to permit the moving party to have access to the courts. Because this policy mimics the needs-based policy underlying Family Code section 2030, no prejudice could result from the second judge’s rulings as far as denial of the specific domestic violence fee request.