Subsequent Tax Costs Ruling Incidental to Prior Judgment.
Plaintiff in Dinaali v. Rohani, Case No. B245126 (2d Dist., Div. 3 Feb. 2, 2015) (unpublished) lost an interference/fraud lawsuit against the defense, which obtained a summary judgment on December 4, 2012 with an award of costs to be established through a cost memorandum. Plaintiff moved to tax costs, with the lower court granting some relief but also denying some aspects at a “tax costs” hearing of January 9, 2013. The total costs award against plaintiff was only $975.
Plaintiff lost an appeal of both the merits and costs determinations.
Although arguing that the lower court prematurely signed a judgment while the motion to strike costs was pending, the appellate court found no divestment of jurisdiction because costs awards are “incidental” to the judgment for jurisdictional purposes. It also affirmed in line with general practice, which is that costs entitlement may be set forth in an earlier judgment but not “fixed” until after the costs memo battle is settled—with the costs award relating back nunc pro tunc to the date of the earlier judgment. (Grant v. List & Lathrop, 2 Cal.App.4th 993, 996-997 (1992).)