Substantial Awards Were Reversed.
As Justice O’Leary of our local Santa Ana court reminds us, reversal of a successful cross-complaint demurrer ruling (including a ruling on contractual claims) also means that the subsequent prevailing party determination goes POOF! also. The reason is that the contracts are still being litigated, and the prevailing party determination will trail the actual merits adjudication. (Estate of Drummond, 149 Cal.App.4th 46, 51 (2007).)
The case where this occurred was Bettingen v. Rubicon Financial, Case No. G044327 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Dec. 27, 2011) (unpublished), resulting in the reversal of a $334,634 fee award and $18,235 costs award.
BLOG UNDERVIEW–We send congratulations to Justice O’Leary, who has been appointed as the new Presiding Justice of the Fourth District, Division 3 (the first female jurist with this honor) by Governor Brown, subject to confirmation by the Commission on Judicial Appointments.