Crespin v. Shewry

• Decision Date: 23 December 2004
• Docket Number: No. A104418.,A104418.
• Citation: 125 Cal.App.4th 259,22 Cal.Rptr.3d 696
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: George CRESPIN et al., Plaintiffs and Respondents, v. Sandra SHEWRY, as Director, etc., et al., Defendants and Appellants.

22 Cal.Rptr.3d 696

125 Cal.App.4th 259

George CRESPIN et al., Plaintiffs and Respondents, v. Sandra SHEWRY, as Director, etc., et al., Defendants and Appellants.

No. A104418.

Court of Appeal, First District, Division 1.

December 23, 2004.

Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, James Humes, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Douglas M. Press, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, Charlton G. Holland III, Deputy Attorney General, for Defendants and Appellants Sandra Shewry et al.

Richard A. Rothschild, Western Center on Law & Poverty; Stephen Ronfeldt, Public Interest Law Project; Linton Joaquin, National Immigration Law Center; Eugenie Denise Mitchell, Brewer & Mitchell, LLP, for Plaintiffs and Respondents George Crespin et al.

MARGULIES, J.

In 1993, plaintiffs obtained a permanent injunction requiring that the California Department of Health Services (DHS) provide certain restricted Medi-Cal benefits to undocumented aliens. A judgment incorporating the injunction's major elements became final in 1994, following DHS's appeal. In 1997 and 2000, DHS moved unsuccessfully for orders dissolving or modifying portions of the injunction. In 2003, plaintiffs applied for and were awarded attorney fees and expenses under the private attorney general statute for successfully defending the permanent injunction. DHS challenges the award, contending that plaintiffs' fee motion was untimely under California Rules of Court, rule 870.2. We find the rule inapplicable in the special circumstances of this case, and affirm the trial court's order awarding fees.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs filed this lawsuit in March 1988. The lawsuit challenged the state's process for determining the eligibility of undocumented aliens for certain restricted benefits they may receive under the Medi-Cal program. Eventually, plaintiffs were granted a preliminary injunction preventing DHS from (1) denying restricted-scope coverage under Medi-Cal to undocumented aliens needing long-term care or dialysis; and (2) requiring aliens applying for benefits to disclose certain information concerning their immigration status or that of other family or household members. The early history of the litigation is described in Crespin v. Kizer (1990) 226 Cal.App.3d 498, 276 Cal.Rptr. 571, in which this court affirmed the preliminary injunction. (Id. at p. 523, 276 Cal.Rptr. 571.)

On remand following the decision in Crespin v. Kizer, the trial court granted plaintiffs a permanent injunction preventing DHS from denying restricted-scope Medi-Cal Program coverage to undocumented aliens for long-term care and dialysis. In February 1993, the trial court entered judgment on the permanent injunction. The judgment was affirmed in substantial part in Crespin v. Coye (1994) 27 Cal.App.4th 700, 34 Cal.Rptr.2d 10. Plaintiffs never sought attorney fees in connection with any of the litigation that occurred from 1988 through 1994.

In March 1997, DHS moved to dissolve or modify portions of the permanent injunction, arguing that under newly-enacted federal welfare legislation, undocumented aliens in California would not be eligible for long-term care and dialysis benefits unless California reenacted a state statute permitting such benefits. Judge Richard Hodge heard the motion in May 1997, but postponed a decision pending the outcome of proposed state legislation that might make it moot. DHS renewed its motion in March 1998. In August 1998, Judge Hodge denied the motion after oral argument, and DHS appealed. While the matter was pending on appeal, the Legislature enacted Welfare and Institutions Code section 14007.65, which reauthorized long-term care and dialysis benefits for undocumented aliens. Due to the Legislature's action, the parties stipulated to the dismissal of DHS's appeal in September 1999. A remittitur was issued in November 1999.

The newly enacted statute, section 14007.65, provided that aliens receiving long-term care services as of the effective date of the statute would continue to receive those services, but that applicants after that date "shall be eligible to receive long-term care services to the extent that funding is made available for this purpose in the Annual Budget Act." (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 14007.65, subds. (a)-(b).) In February 2000, DHS filed a new motion to modify the permanent injunction on the ground that its language should reflect the limitation on the eligibility of new applicants contained in the new statute so that DHS would not be placed under potentially conflicting legal obligations. In April 2000, Judge Hodge denied the motion without prejudice, finding that judicial intervention was not required at that time. DHS filed no appeal from the ruling.

There were no further proceedings in the case until October 2, 2002, when plaintiffs' counsel initiated settlement discussions with DHS over plaintiffs' entitlement to an award of attorney fees for successfully defending against DHS's postjudgment motions to modify the preliminary injunction. After settlement discussions failed, plaintiffs filed a motion for fees and expenses on May 29, 2003. The motion covered time spent and expenses incurred beginning in 1996 and continuing through the prosecution of the fee motion itself.

Rejecting DHS's contention that the fee motion was untimely under California Rules of Court, rule 870.2,¹ the trial court awarded plaintiffs $216,495.34 in attorney fees and expenses. This appeal followed.

DISCUSSION

I. PLAINTIFFS' FEE MOTION WAS NOT UN-TIMELY UNDER RULE 870.2

A. Rule 870.2 Does Not Address Post-judgment Fees

The primary issue in this case is whether California Rules of Court, rule 870.2 sets a time limit for seeking attorney fees under Code of Civil Procedure section 1021.5 for fees incurred in successfully litigating postjudgment motions in the trial court. There appears to be no dispute that (1) plaintiffs' attorney fee claims satisfied the substantive requirements of section 1021.5² and (2) plaintiffs' fee motion was untimely under rule 870.2(b)(1), if the time limit determined under that subdivision applies to motions to obtain statutory fees for postjudgment trial court litigation over the modification of a permanent injunction.

Rule 870.2 reads in pertinent part as follows: "(a) [Applicability] Except as otherwise provided by statute, this rule applies in civil cases to claims for statutory attorney fees and claims for attorney fees provided for in a contract. [¶] Subdivisions (b) and (c) apply when the court determines entitlement to the fees, the amount of the fees, or both, whether the court makes that determination because the statute or contract refers to `reasonable' fees, because it requires a determination of the prevailing party, or for other reasons. [¶] (b) [Attorney Fees Before Trial Court Judgment] [¶] (1) A notice of motion to claim attorney fees for services up to and including the rendition of judgment in the trial court — including attorney fees on an appeal before the rendition of judgment in the trial court — shall be served and filed within the time for filing a notice of appeal under rules 2 and 3.[¶] ... [¶] (c) [Attorney Fees on Appeal] [¶] (1) A notice of motion to claim attorney fees on appeal — other than the attorney fees on appeal claimed under subdivision (b) — under a statute or contract requiring the court to determine entitlement to the fees, the amount of the fees, or both, shall be served and filed within the time for serving and filing the memorandum of costs under rule 26(d)...."

DHS would have us analyze the intended scope of rule 870.2 as follows: The word "judgment" in subdivision (b)(1) unambiguously includes any appealable order, whether entered before or after judgment.³ This flows from the fact that the subdivision references rules 2 and 3, and from the definition of "judgment" found in rule 40. Rule 2(a) states that a notice of appeal must be filed on or before the earliest of 60 days after the notice of entry of judgment is served or 180 days after entry of judgment. Subdivision (f) of rule 2 specifies that as used in subdivision (a), "`judgment' includes an appealable order if the appeal is from an appealable order." Rule 3, addressing trial court motions that extend the time to appeal, also applies by its express terms to appeals from appealable orders as well as judgments. Further, the definitions section of the appellate rules of court, rule 40 provides that "[i]n these rules, unless the context or subject matter otherwise requires [¶] ... [¶] `[j]udgment' includes any judgment, order or decree from which an appeal lies." (Rule 40(g).) Based on the reference to rules 2 and 3 in rule 870.2, and the definition of "judgment" found in rule 40, DHS argues that the deadline set by rule 870.2(b)(1) unambiguously applies to any motion to obtain statutory fees for trial court activities regardless of whether the legal services for which fees are sought resulted in a judgment or an appealable order. And, in the case of an appealable order, DHS contends the subdivision applies regardless of whether the services were rendered before or after a final judgment.

DHS has also requested that we take judicial notice of documents contained in the files of the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) reflecting the drafting history of rule 870.2. We have done so. According to DHS, these documents confirm its interpretation that "judgment" encompasses all appealable orders and that the rule, as reenacted effective January 1, 1994, was intended to set time limits for bringing any motion for statutory attorney fees, whether the motion pertained to activities taking place before or after the original judgment became final.⁴

As discussed in detail below, our own analysis of the text and drafting history of rule 870.2 fails to support DHS's interpretation. In our view, the rule was not intended to govern the time for bringing motions for fees arising from post-final judgment activities, such as litigation over...