ABC Money Transactions v. Barilla CA4/3

INTRODUCTION

ABC Money Transactions, Inc. (ABC), obtained a money judgment against Truc Ly Ha, and located money to which Ha was entitled in a single client trust account maintained by Ha’s attorney, Frank F. Barilla. ABC obtained an order authorizing a levy on that account, but Barilla appealed from the order, preventing ABC from proceeding with the levy. This court affirmed the order authorizing the levy. While the appeal from the order authorizing the levy was pending, ABC filed a creditor’s suit against Barilla, and judgment was awarded in ABC’s favor. ABC then filed a motion for an award of attorney fees against Barilla in the creditor’s suit, which the trial court granted. Barilla appeals from that order. We affirm. ABC’s creditor’s suit was not an independent claim against Barilla, but rather was an alternative means of levying on Barilla’s single client trust account, after Barilla prevented a direct levy by appealing from the postjudgment order. Under these special circumstances, we conclude attorney fees were recoverable under Code of Civil Procedure section 701.020, subdivision (c). (All further statutory references are to the Code of Civil Procedure.)

STATEMENT OF…