$131,000 Fee Award Exposure Was the Result.
In Conservatorship of Sims, Case No. B227813 (2d Dist., Div. 4 July 26, 2012) (unpublished), wife was hit with a judgment for breach of fiduciary duty in an action brought by the conservator of deceased husband’s estate, mainly based on obtaining a quitclaim deed transfer through undue influence. The lower court also ordered wife to pay conservator’s and other defendants’ attorneys fees totaling around $131,000.
After losing the merits based appeal, the appellate court turned to her six sentence, cursory argument that the fee awards were unjust. Such an undeveloped challenge was deemed a forfeiture of any argument on the fee awards, because the appellate court does not have the burden of discovering weaknesses in the arguments of the respondents without assistance from appellant.