Appealability: Appellate Challenge To Defense Fee Award Under CAR Form Contract Could Not Be Considered

Post-Judgment Fee Proceeding Considered Both Entitlement And Amount, So Failure To Mention Fee Award In Notice Of Appeal Was Fatal.

            Sanders v. Chun, Case No. B284704 (2d Dist., Div. 4 Dec. 18, 2018) (unpublished) demonstrates a lesson we have posted on many times before: protectively appeal a post-judgment fee order even if might be subsumed by a prior judgment mentioning fee recovery. The defense in this one obtained a substantial post-judgment fee award of $120,710.71 under a CAR form contract. The appellate court could not entertain the other side’s challenge to the fee award because it was never mentioned in the notice of appeal. The post-judgment fee proceeding involved both entitlement and amount, such that a separate appeal had to be made from the fee order. (Colony Hill v. Ghamaty, 143 Cal.App.4^th 1156, 1172 (2006); DeZerega v. Meggs, 83 Cal.App.4^th 28, 44 (2000).)