Small Sanctions Award Reversed As To Plaintiffs, But Not As To Their Attorney Who Failed To Join The Appeal.
There is a lesson for litigation attorneys in this one, with respect to making sure you join an appeal by a client who is hit with statutory sanctions.
Plaintiffs and attorney were hit with CCP § 128.5 sanctions in a 2006 case, with the sanctions awarded in 2008. Only plaintiffs appealed, raising several arguments for overturning the order in Lafferty v. Fleetwood Motor Homes of California, Inc., Case No. C059562 (3d Dist. Jan. 26, 2022) (unpublished). The appellate court reversed, because the sanctions were awarded under former section 128.5 which applied to pre-1995 cases and with section 128.5 not being amended again until 2014. It simply did not apply. However, attorney’s failure to join the appeal meant no relief could come his way—a practitioner tip to follow in order to avoid a bad result.