Appeal Reversal Impact: Moots Appeal By Reversed Winner Claiming Trial Court Error In Denying An Award Of Attorney’s Fees

Fourth District, Division 1 So Holds in Unpublished Opinion.

     What happens when an initial winner in a case cross-appeals a determination that denied winner an award of attorney’s fees but the appellate court eventually reverses the merits judgment in favor of initial winner? The answer is provided in Costa Serena Owners Coalition v. Costa Serena Architectural Comm., Case Nos. D052903 et al. (4^th Dist., Div. 1 June 25, 2009) (unpublished).

     And, the answer is this: the reversal of a judgment and remand to enter judgment as a matter of law in favor of the initial losing party on the merits moots the initial winner’s appeal of a postjudgment order denying winner an award of attorney’s fees. (See, e.g., Graham v. Scissor Tail, Inc., 28 Cal.3d 807, 831 (1981); Oakland Raiders v. Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Inc., 144 Cal.App.4^th 1175, 1195 (2006); Kreutzer v. City & County of San Francisco, 166 Cal.App.4^th 306, 312 n. 3 (2008); Kotla v. Regents of University of California, 115 Cal.App.4^th 283, 296 n. 10 (2004).