Case Law Was Not Ambiguous That No Entry of Judgment Was Needed When The Court Clerk Served A Notice Of Voluntary Dismissal.
Tom v. Live Nation Entertainment, Inc., Case No. B308200 (2d Dist., Div. 7 Jan. 19, 2022) (unpublished) should remind all litigators to timely file a motion to tax costs, even prematurely doing so as to avoid a waiver of challenging costs. What happened here is that plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed their lawsuit given a summary judgment tentative against them, with the clerk providing notice of the dismissal to the parties. Thinking that there was a need for a formal judgment of dismissal, plaintiffs’ attorney did not timely file a motion to tax costs 15 days after the dismissal under CRC 3.1700(b)(1). She filed a CCP § 473 motion for relief, which was denied by the lower court. The 2/7 DCA affirmed. Fries v. Rite Aid Corp., 173 Cal.App.4th 182 (2009) established that no judgment of dismissal was required after a notice of entry of voluntary dismissal was served when it came to the running of the 15-day deadline. Attorney admitted she should have done some more research, and the appellate court found that her excuse was not reasonable.