Trans-Action Commercial Investors, Ltd. v. Firmaterr, Inc.

Opinion

PARRILLI, J.

In this case we must decide whether a lawyer can be ordered to pay an opposing party $50,000 in counsel fees and costs under California Rules of Court, rule 227, as a sanction for causing a mistrial. Rule 227 provides that a court “may order the person at fault” for failure to comply with a court order “to pay the opposing party’s reasonable expenses and counsel fees ... in addition to any other sanction permitted by law.” We recognize the rule was intended to consolidate existing statutory authority. However, the plain terms of rule 227 purport to confer on trial courts a…