Berzins v. Berzins

Daniel King, the substitute defendant and administrator of the estate of David Berzins (administrator), appealed from the judgment of the appellate court affirming the trial court's award of attorney's fees to the plaintiff, Mary Berzins. The administrator appealed, arguing that the trial court improperly relied on Ramin v. Ramin to grant the plaintiff's motion for sanctions and attorney's fees. Ramin held that a court has discretion to award attorney's fees to party who incurs those fees due to the other party's egregious litigation misconduct. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) the trial court's award of attorney's fees did not fall within the scope of Ramin, as the phrase "egregious litigation misconduct" was limited to discovery misconduct; and (2) the court did not act within its inherent authority in awarding attorney's fees for filing frivolous and duplicative postjudgment motions because it failed to make a finding that the administrator had acted in bad faith as defined in Maris v. McGrath. View "Berzins v. Berzins" on Justia Law