Kobzoff v. Los Angeles County Harbor/UCLA Medical Center

Opinion

CHIN, J.

Code of Civil Procedure section 1038 allows certain defendants, including public entities, to recover the costs of defending frivolous civil actions under the California Tort Claims Act (Tort Claims Act) if the court determines the proceeding was not brought “with reasonable cause and in the good faith belief that there was a justifiable controversy under the facts and law. . . .” (Code Civ. Proc., § 1038, subd. (a).) Here we resolve a conflict in the Courts of Appeal over whether a lack of either reasonable cause or good faith alone is sufficient to sustain a section 1038,…