CALIFORNIA FAMILY LAW
...Attorney Fees
......Sanctions
.........Code Civ. Proc. §128.5
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Fees may be awarded to punish frivolous actions or delaying tactics.

CCP 128.5(a) does not authorize trial courts to impose sanctions for any form of litigation misconduct arising from complaint filed, or proceeding initiated after 12/31/94; CCP 128.7 applies to later cases.

Party filing sanctions motion under CCP §128.5 need not comply with CCP §128.7 waiting period; standard in evaluating section 128.5 sanctions request is whether the conduct was objectively reasonable; act may be applied to all actions not final.

Procedure for ruling on Section 128.5 motions.

128.5 sanctions proper against Ps and atty who acted frivolously and in bad faith by disclosing D's declaration, filed under seal but inadvertently placed in public file.

Whether an action is frivolous is governed by an objective standard, but a finding of subjective bad faith, i.e., a showing of an improper purpose also required.

Applicable sanctions statute determined by date original support order filed.

Sanctions against trustee/attorneys re trust's internal affairs governed by CCP 128.5, not CCP 128.7 as proceedings arose from filing of will in 1974, not post-1994 motion to remove trustee.

When an action utterly lacks merit, the trial court is entitled to infer that the action was taken in bad faith.

Code Civ. Proc. §128.5 sanctions may be awarded in contingency fee cases.

Code Civ. Proc. §128.5 sanction against counsel proper for pursuit of motion after grounds for motion found invalid.

Failure to legally justify motion for new trial justifies fee award.

Code Civ. Proc. §128.5 sanctions may be imposed when entire action is frivolous. Amount of notice required must be determined on case-by-case basis.

Code Civ. Proc. §128.5 sanctions may not be obtained ex parte. Order must contain detailed recital of circumstances justifying sanctions.

Cases discussing various CCP 128.5 sanctions issues.