Plaintiff Appealed Defendants’ Successful Demurrer Without Leave To Her First Amended Complaint, But Failed To Appeal The Later Issued Expungement and Fees Order.
Bryer v. J.P. Morgan Chase, N.A., Case No. H045407 (6th Dist., November 18, 2019) (unpublished), provides a reminder that appeal of an underlying judgment generally does not include matters later decided – such as orders on attorneys’ fees motions.
Here, plaintiff filed a lawsuit to prevent foreclosure of her residence. The lower court sustained defendants’ demurrers to plaintiff’s first amended complaint without leave to amend. Plaintiff appealed.
Months later, the trial court granted defendants’ motion to expunge the lis pendens plaintiff had recorded and also awarded attorneys’ fees for the expungement motion.
On appeal, plaintiff challenged the lower court’s order sustaining the demurrers without leave to amend, but also challenged the awarded attorneys’ fees and expungement order. Unfortunately for plaintiff, she failed to file a notice of appeal for the later and separate attorneys’ fees and expungement order.
Following the principles set forth in Polster, Inc. v. Swing (1985) 164 Cal.App.3d 427, 436 (limiting scope of jurisdiction on appeal to the notice of appeal and judgment/order appealed from) and Soldate v. Fidelity Nat. Financial, Inc. (1998) 62 Cal.App.4th 1069, 1073 (matters occurring after a judgment are rendered irrelevant on appeal), the Sixth District “express[ed] no opinion regarding the merits of plaintiff’s challenge” to the expungement and attorneys’ fees order.