Alvord v. Dept. of Social Services
After this court dismissed an appeal and denied plaintiff's motion to vacate the dismissal and reinstate the appeal, remittitur issued and ordered costs on appeal awarded to defendant Department of Social Services of the State of California. Alvord appeals from a trial court order awarding attorney fees on appeal of $7,131.80 and costs of $663.20. We find that the grounds for our order denying the motion to vacate the dismissal and reinstate the appeal were exclusively procedural, and that the order did not address the substantive merits of the appeal. Thus this court did not find that Alvords previous appeal was meritless, defined as groundless or without foundation. Therefore the order awarding attorney fees incurred on appeal to the defendant was an abuse of discretion, and must be reversed. Court find no error in the award to defendant of costs incurred in the prior appeal, and affirm that part of the order.
Comments on Alvord v. Dept. of Social Services