Hernandez

BACKGROUND

In September 2017, Hernandez brought this action against Luna to partition real

property that they co-owned as joint tenants. In December 2018, the parties stipulated to

sell the subject property. After a bench trial in May 2019, the court entered a judgment

dividing the proceeds of the sale equally between the parties. The court rejected Luna’s

argument that he was entitled to a greater share of the sale proceeds.

Hernandez moved for attorney fees, and the court granted the motion in part. The

court awarded her reasonable attorney fees incurred from the commencement of the

action to December 2018, when Luna stipulated to sell the property. The court ordered

Hernandez to submit an accounting of her fees for that period, and it scheduled another

hearing on the matter in several months. Hernandez’s accounting showed that she

incurred $32,975 in attorney fees during the relevant period.

Before the next hearing, Luna filed a notice of appeal from the judgment. The

trial court determined that the pending appeal stayed the proceedings, so it did not rule on

the specific amount of attorney fees to which Hernandez was entitled. It took the hearing

off…