People Ex Rel. Department of Transportation v. Superior Court

*1508 Opinion

This petition for writ of mandate by the Department of Transportation (DOT) arises from an eminent domain action. DOT accepted the property owners’ final demand for compensation several days before the scheduled trial date, resulting in a stipulated judgment. Upon motion by the property owners, the trial court awarded litigation expenses to them under Code of Civil Procedure section 1250.410. 1 DOT filed this petition to challenge the award of litigation expenses. As we shall explain, we agree with DOT that the trial court’s award of litigation expenses is reviewable in this writ proceeding.

DOT contends that section 1250.410 does not permit an award of litigation expenses because the case was resolved before trial in the matter. Section 1250.410, subdivision (b) provides that the trial court may award litigation expenses if it finds “that the offer of the plaintiff [(the government)] was unreasonable and that the demand of the defendant [(the property owner(s))] was reasonable viewed in the light of the evidence admitted and the compensation awarded in the proceeding . . . .” The current case does not involve the situation contemplated by the statute, which…