Rony

To make way for an outdoor pizza oven in his backyard, defendant and appellant Paolo Costa hired a day laborer to remove overhanging tree limbs from nearby trees, one of which was a Monterey cypress growing on his neighbor’s, plaintiff and respondent Ellen Rony’s, property. However, the laborer not only trimmed limbs overhanging Costa’s property, he also lopped off portions of the cypress solely on Rony’s property. Distressed by the shearing of her tree, Rony sued Costa, but not the laborer, for wrongful injuries to timber. Following a bench trial, Rony was awarded $22,530 in actual damages, which the court doubled to $45,060 under a statutory *750 double-damages provision. The trial court also awarded Rony attorney fees under Code of Civil Procedure section 1029.8, which authorizes a fee award against an “unlicensed person who causes injury or damage to another person as a result of providing goods or performing services for which a license is required.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 1029.8, subd. (a).)

Both parties have appealed. Costa contends the trial court had no basis to include $15,000 in its damages award for loss of the tree’s aesthetic value. He also contends section…