Sanctions Denied To Respondent; However, Appellate Court Directed That The Lower Court Award Full Appellate Fees On Remand, As Long As They Are Reasonable.
Orange County Superior Court Judge Bancroft, sitting by assignment, has authored a couple of decisions on sanctions, the latest being Meena v. Schroeder, Case No. G063849 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Dec. 4, 2025) (unpublished). In this one, appellant homeowner filed a frivolous appeal brief raising an issue directly at odds with the position taken before the trial court, with appellant earlier being hit with a substantial award of adverse attorney’s fees to respondent homeowner by an arbitrator to the tune of over $130,621). The appellate court decided that $6,000 in sanctions, jointly and severally against appellant and his counsel, was the proper amount of sanctions, payable to the appellate clerk to offset some of the appeal court’s time in working the case up through oral argument. With respect to sanctions for respondent (requesting $22,549.20), the panel decided that request should be denied, but that the lower court should grant full appellate fees to respondent (including its work in requesting appeal sanctions) subject to the amount being reasonable in nature.