Appealability/Costs: Although Appeal From Judgment Did Allow For Appellate Jurisdiction Of Postjudgment Costs Ruling, Trial Judge Did Not Err By Awarding Prevailing Defendant Costs Of Deposition Before Ruling On Demurrer

 

Deposition Costs Were Reasonable Under The Circumstances.

    In Estate of Gasper, Case No. A142068 (1st Dist., Div. 1 Apr. 28, 2016) (unpublished), an attorney handling the closing of a probate estate sued the title company for improperly closing escrow on a piece of real estate and causing him to incur fees/expenses in cleaning up the fallout.  Title company defendant successfully demurred to attorney’s complaint on standing/duty grounds.  The lower court also awarded defendant the costs of a deposition taken before the pleadings were settled. 

    Defendant first questioned the appellate court’s jurisdiction because the attorney did not expressly appeal the post-judgment motion to tax costs ruling.  (We have many times before suggested that all post-judgment costs and fees orders be appealed separately.)  However, because only a costs ruling was involved, this was subsumed by the previous judgment such that attorney’s appeal from the judgment sufficed.  (Green v. County of Riverside, 238 Cal.App.4th 1368, 1373 (2015).)  But, on the merits, the appellate court determined that it was reasonable to award the deposition costs to defendant even though the deposition took place before the demurrer ruling.