O'BRIEN

Defendant Bella Cseh, appeals from an order imposing sanctions of $150 in attorney’s fees on her pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 128.5. (All further statutory references are to the Code of Civil Procedure.) Defendant contends that the order is invalid because the notice requirements of due process and section 128.5 were not met and because the order does not detail justification for the imposition of sanctions with the degree of specificity required by section 128.5. We agree with both contentions and reverse the order.

Plaintiff, Louise Bertha O’Brien, filed a complaint for personal injuries against defendant on April 27, 1982. Defendant filed an answer on May 28, 1982. The case was ordered into arbitration on January 13, 1983. On March 21, 1983, the appointed arbitrator sent a letter to both parties notifying them that an arbitration hearing had been scheduled for April 13, 1983, at 6 p.m. On March 24, 1983, Richard Merrill, attorney for defendant, sent a letter to the arbitrator and a copy to plaintiff’s counsel notifying them that the date and time of April 13, 1983, at 6 p.m. was “not acceptable.”

On April 1, 1983, approximately a week later,…