Order Can Be Based On An Oral Pronouncement.
Plaintiff’s attorney in Marriage of Stupp and Schilders, Case Nos. A161177 et al. (1st Dist., Div. 2 Jan. 25, 2022) (unpublished) was hit with a $1,050 sanctions order under CCP § 177.5, which authorizes a judicial officer to impose monetary sanctions “for any violation of a lawful court order by a person, done without good cause or substantial justification.” The basis was disobeying a judge’s ruling by which a discovery sanctions order against the other side was stayed, triggered by plaintiff’s attorney seeking a writ of execution on the stayed discovery sanctions order. The section 177.5 sanctions were affirmed on appeal. There was no need for a written order; an oral pronouncement was sufficient given attorney was in court. (Seykora v. Superior Court, 232 Cal.App.3d 1075, 1078, 1084 (1991); People v. Ward, 173 Cal.App.4th 1518, 1529-1530 (2009).)