Appellate Court Had No Jurisdiction To Entertain Challenge To Fee Award.
We have posted on this topic many times, but McKillop v. Wallace, Case No. B283783 (2d Dist., Div. 5 July 15, 2019) (unpublished) is yet another cruel reminder to litigants and counsel to separately appeal post-trial fee awards. In this one, plaintiff was hit with adverse fee awards against two defendants totaling about $195,000 in an unsuccessful breach of contract suit. However, plaintiff only appealed the underlying judgment, not the subsequent fee award. Plaintiff’s appeal was dismissed because the appellate court had no jurisdiction to entertain the fee award absent a separate timely notice of appeal. (Nellie Gail Ranch Owners Assn. v. McMullin, 4 Cal.App.5th 982, 1007-1008 (2016).)