Lester

Plaintiff’s original complaint sought to condemn certain land owned by defendants for use as a school site. Thereafter, an amended complaint changed the location of the land to be condemned to another site, also owned by defendants.

The parties agreed that such an amendment constituted an abandonment of the proceeding as to the original site (County of Kern v. Galatas, 200 Cal.App.2d 353, 357 [ 19 Cal.Rptr. 348 ]) and that by reason thereof defendants became entitled to the costs provided for in section 1255a of the Code of Civil Procedure.

This section provides that, upon abandonment, “a judgment shall be entered dismissing the proceeding and awarding the defendants their costs and disbursements, which shall include all necessary expenses incurred in preparing for trial and reasonable attorney fees. These costs and disbursements, including expenses and attorney fees, may be claimed in and by a cost bill, to be prepared, served, filed and taxed as in civil actions; ...” (Italics added). Such a judgment of dismissal and award of costs was duly entered herein.

Defendants included in their cost bill an item of $10,000 for attorney fees. Plaintiff’s motion to tax this item was…