Counsel for Represented Party Has Special Risks in This Area.
In 1st American Warehouse Mortgage, Inc. v. Topa Ins. Co., Case No. 246716 (2d Dist., Div. 4 Aug. 4, 2014) (unpublished), attorney representing an insurance adjuster and agent was hit with a $27,334 sanctions award under CCP § 128.7. The defense set this one up perfectly; defense attorney sent a letter requesting a dismissal with legal support for its position (a letter disregarded) and then obtained an unopposed summary judgment on the grounds advanced in the warning directives (safe harbor motion also).
Flogging. c1840. Library of Congress.
Plaintiffs’ counsel appealed, but to no avail. Insurance agents usually do not get tagged with breach of contract/implied covenant theories, and that happened to be the case here. No colorable basis for the claims was presented by plaintiffs’ counsel, who had to bear the sanctions given that he represented a party presumably relying on his advice. Granted the sanctions award was a significant amount, but section 128.7 does allow for an award of “some or all” of the reasonable attorney’s fees and expenses incurred as a direct result of the violations of its provisions—with the “all” being the award made here.
![[Flogging on a Man-of-War]](http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/cph/3a40000/3a43000/3a43700/3a43764r.jpg)