Reed

We deliberate here on the subject of sanctions for frivolous actions. The trial court, after the case had been voluntarily dismissed by plaintiff West Coast Development, awarded sanctions against plaintiff (but not plaintiff’s attorney) under Code of Civil Procedure section 128.5 in the sum of $5,000. Plaintiff appeals, seeking a reversal of the award of sanctions. We agree with the trial court that sanctions were appropriate, but reverse and remand because of procedural error.

Trial Court Ruling and Scope of Review

The written order granting sanctions contains no findings or specification of the grounds for sanctions. The oral statement granting defendant’s motion was as follows:

Plaintiff attacks this judgment on a number of grounds. The principal contention, however, appears to be that the facts surrounding the litigation and plaintiff’s tactics related thereto do not constitute the bad faith tactics calculated to harass an opposing party which are required, under section 128.5, in order to assess sanctions. This is, then, principally a review of the evidence supporting the trial judge’s determination. Thus, we search for “substantial” evidence in support of the…