Capotosto

—Attorney Harold L. Collins (Collins) appeals from the trial court’s order awarding Attorney Thomas J. Miller (Miller) $1,500 in sanctions (Code Civ. Proc., §§ 128.5, 904.1, subd. (k)) against Collins. Collins and Miller sought sanctions against each other in the underlying case. We reject Collins’s contention that the trial court should have awarded him sanctions against Miller. However, we conclude the trial court erred in awarding Miller sanctions because he lacked standing to seek sanctions against Collins. We reverse the sanctions order.

Facts

Collins represented Ronald Capotosto’s (Capotosto) wife in a lengthy and acrimonious divorce against Capotosto. At one point, Collins served Capotosto with an order to show cause regarding contempt and the two men got into a shoving match. As a result, on December 5, 1985, Capotosto, represented by Attorney Gregory Wood, sued Collins for assault and battery. Collins answered and alleged several affirmative defenses. On February 26, 1986, the trial court granted Capotosto’s motion to strike some of Collins’s affirmative defenses and his prayer for section 128.5 attorney’s fees.

Nothing happened until August 1990, when Miller…