Conservatorship of Becerra

In this conservatorship case, objector and appellant Linda Paquette (Appellant), an attorney who was representing a party in the action, appeals an order by the probate court ordering her to pay monetary sanctions to the court and attorney fees to the court-appointed attorney for the proposed conservatee, Bibiano Becerra (Conservatee). (Prob. Code, §§ 1471, 1800 et seq.; Code Civ. Proc., §§ 177.5, 575.2. ) The court-appointed attorney, Parisa P. Farokhi (the CAA), sought these sanctions and attorney fees as a result of Appellant’s alleged violations of California Rules of Professional Conduct, rule 2-100(A), through her conduct of continuing to contact Conservatee after the CAA had already been appointed to represent him and had requested other counsel to communicate with him only through her. After issuing an order to show cause, the probate court imposed against Appellant $1,000 in sanctions in favor of the court and $2,587.50 in attorney fees payable to the CAA.

Appellant argues the awards of monetary sanctions and fees are unsupported by statutory authority or the record, in the form of a proven violation of an existing lawful court order, as opposed to a different…