Court of Appeal Did Not Condone Keeping OSC Contempt Hearing On Calendar With No Intent to Proceed.
The next one is an object lesson, likely reinforcing that sanctions can follow from not showing professional courtesy–at the least.
In Marriage of Booth, Case No. A127140 (1st Dist., Div. 1 Nov. 4, 2010) (unpublished), wife’s attorney in a child custody proceeding was sanctioned a total of $1,650 (some payable to an expert and some payable to the court) as a discovery sanction for keeping an OSC contempt hearing on calendar against an expert when there was no intent to go forward. Sanctioned attorney appealed, to no avail.
The appellate court likely felt the lower court’s award was charitable, since a total of $8,330 in sanctions was requested. However, it found no justification for taking up calendar space and inconveniencing the court by not serving the contempt OSC or not taking the matter off calendar. Under the circumstances, the lower court was fully justified in sanctioning the attorney for “wasting everyone’s time.”