Correction Was Clerical In Nature.
What happens when a trial judge inadvertently muffs entry of an incorrect attorney’s fees order? Depends on the nature of what needs to be corrected, and whether the correction is a clerical or judicial correction. The next case illustrates the difference in the two concepts, allowing the clerical correction to stand.
In Tezak v. Carlburg, Case No. G041854 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Dec. 13, 2010) (unpublished), the trial judge corrected a fee/costs award to defendants because it was variant from his actual award at a hearing. Apparently, the trial judge entered a prior order relating to fee incurred in connection with a previous anti-SLAPP motion. Defendants submitted an award order with correct numbers, which the the trial court signed (indicating it superseded the prior incorrect order).
Plaintiff appealed, but Justice Ikola--on behalf of a 3-0 panel--found that it was a correctable clerical error rather than a uncorrectable judicial error.
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