RFA Denials Were Made In Good Faith and Other Denied RFAs Were Not Of Substantial Importance.
In our category, “Requests for Admissions,” we have posted on several cases discussing Code of Civil Procedure section 2033.420, which does allow the trial court to award attorney’s fees and costs to a litigant who proves material matters denied in bad faith which are the subject of request for admissions denials by the opposing side.
Tagliaferri v. City of Los Angeles, Case No. B223302 (2d Dist., Div. 3 Nov. 30, 2011) (unpublished), where failure to grant a fee request for RFA denials was affirmed on appeal, reminds us that two of the necessary conditions were missing for a fee award–the RFAs denials were made in good faith (rather than done so in bad faith) and the two denied RFAs did not have substantial importance in the overall case. These circumstances demonstrated the lower court did not abuse its discretion in denying the fee request by plaintiff. (Laabs v. City of Victorville, 163 Cal.App.4th 1242, 1275-1276 (2008).)