Decisions Show That Notice Of Entry Document Service Or File Stamped Order Service Will Trigger The 60 Days Appeal Deadline Time Period For Civil Unlimited Cases.
This next case is a deadline warning for practitioners whose clients want to appeal a fee ruling, even one where the client is claiming the fees were not high enough.
The appellant’s appeal of a case claiming a fee award was insufficient in amount was dismissed in County of Napa v. Wesner, Case No. A162794 (1st Dist., Div. 1 June 8, 2022) (unpublished). The reason was that the superior court clerk served a “file stamped” copy of the fee award on County (with no language indicating that anything else needed to be done such as preparation of a proposed order), with County not filing an appeal within 60 days after the order was served. County argued that a “Notice of Entry” document had to be served relating to the order, but the appellate court rejected that argument because: either a “Notice of Entry” document needs to be served or a file-stamped copy of an appealable order not bearing the “notice of entry” language. (Russell v. Foglio, 160 Cal.App.4th 653, 659-660 (2008).) Further confusion did occur in this case because the trial court did allow the County to submit a further proposed judgment on the fee award, even though the file-stamped minute order contemplated no further action. The appellate court determined that this new proposed judgment did not restart the deadline periods because the file-stamped order which was served triggered the 60-day period. (Laraway v. Pasadena Unified School Dist., 98 Cal.App.4th 579, 583 (2002).) Appeal of the fee award dismissed on the jurisdictional ground of not timely appealing.