Costs: $11,288 Costs Award To County For Outside Counsel/Paralegal’s Administrative Record Work Was No Abuse Of Discretion

If Reasonable And Necessary, CCP § 1094.6(c) Allows For Recovery Of These Costs.

            In McMillan v. County of Siskiyou, Case No. C087960 (3d Dist. Dec. 9, 2020) (unpublished), plaintiffs wanted a hearing before the County’s Planning Commission to determine whether they had vested rights to a surface mine on a 1,741-acre property.  They got their wish, but lost their claim before the Commission, then the Board of Supervisors, and then the superior court in a mandamus proceeding challenge.  The lower court then awarded County $14,655.17 in costs, mostly for preparation of the administrative record in the mandamus proceedings.  On appeal, plaintiffs challenged $11,288 of A/R preparation work by County’s outside counsel and paralegals.

            The Third District affirmed.  Code of Civil Procedure section 1094.6(c) allows for costs recovery of mandamus proceeding A/R work if it is reasonable and necessary.  Plaintiffs argued that only staff agency work, not that of County’s outside counsel or paralegals, was solely compensable, but that argument flew in the face of contrary reasoning from The Otay Ranch, L.P. v. County of San Diego, 230 Cal.App.4^th 60, 70-71 (2014).  With respect to the reasonableness and necessity of the costs under Code of Civil Procedure section 1033.5(c)(2), (3), the record revealed that the work of outside counsel and paralegal satisfied the requirements such that there was no abuse of discretion by the superior court in awarding those costs.