Appellate Court Did Remind Counsel They Need To Notify Courts About Bankruptcy Filings Which Might Implicate Whether The Stay Is In Place.
Navellier v. Putnam, Case No. A172077 (1st Dist., Div. 5 Feb. 2, 2026 unpublished; published on Feb. 23, 2026; posted on Feb. 24, 2026) [bankruptcy discussion published; fee award entitlement and lodestar analysis unpublished] is an interesting opinion which reminds all practitioners that they must notify appellate and trial courts of bankruptcy pleadings to see if the stay is in effect. The appellate court did not sanction anyone, but it was not happy about not having notice. However, fortunately for the litigants and their counsel, the stay did not apply to the appeal of a fee award. That was the case because (1) one party to the appeal was a non-debtor, and (2) the debtor litigant was prosecuting the litigation based on a contractual breach such that the debtor brought the action, not defendants winning contractual fees for prosecuting a case against a debtor. (Shah v. Glendale Fed. Bank, 44 Cal.App.4th 1371, 1377 (1996); In re Horizon Womens Care Prof. LLC, 506 B.R. 553, 556 (Bankr. D. Colo. 2014).) Because plaintiffs were suing to enforce a promissory note with a fees clause, Civil Code section 1717 did apply. Although five defense counsel were involved, the trial court did cut the fee request by 15% and discounted the request for time by three attorneys, such that reduced award of $317,960.96 was no abuse of discretion.