Wilson

*402 Opinion

INTRODUCTION

Under Code of Civil Procedure section 2033.420, a party who unreasonably denies a request for admission may be required to pay the requesting party its reasonable expenses (including reasonable attorneys fees) incurred in proving the truth of the matter at trial. In this case, a will contestant, Nancy L. Brown, denied requests for admission which, if admitted, would have resolved the entire case in favor of the executor, Terri Wilson. When Wilson then prevailed at trial, she sought an award of costs of proof in the amount of all of her legal fees incurred after the date of the denial of the requests for admission. The trial court granted the motion, ordering Brown and her counsel, Attorney Larry Lewellyn and Attorney Dawn Clark-Johnson, to pay Wilson the full amount of her legal fees.

In this appeal, we consider whether a costs of proof order may be directed to the denying party’s counsel, as well as the denying party. We conclude that costs of proof may be imposed only against a party, not the party’s counsel. We therefore reverse that portion of the trial court’s order requiring Brown’s attorneys to pay a share of the costs of proof in this case. In…