County of Los Angeles v. Financial Casualty & Surety CA2/1

DISCUSSION

Code of Civil Procedure section 908 provides that, upon reversal or modification of a judgment, “the reviewing court may direct that the parties be returned so far as possible to the positions they occupied before the enforcement of or execution on the judgment or order. In doing so, the reviewing court may order restitution on reasonable terms and conditions of all property and rights lost by the erroneous judgment or order. . . . ” “[A] trial court whose order or judgment has been reversed on appeal has inherent authority to afford similar relief. [Citations.]” (Gunderson v. Wall (2011) 196 Cal.App.4th 1060, 1065 (Gunderson).) “‘The fundamental rule guiding the court [in awarding restitution under Code of Civil Procedure section 908] [i]s, so far as possible, to place the parties in as favorable a position as they could have been in had the judgment[] not been enforced pending appeal.’ [Citation.]” (Gunderson, supra, 196 Cal.App.4th at p. 1065.) An interest award routinely is part of restitution following the reversal of a money judgment unless such an award would be inequitable under the circumstances. (Textron Financial Corp. v. National Union Fire Ins. Co. (2004)…