Levine v. Berschneider
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John B. Richards, an attorney, appeals from the trial court's order finding him in contempt and the order to pay monetary sanctions for his lack of candor with the trial court about the fact that settlement funds had been paid.
The Court of Appeal dismissed the attempt to appeal from the contempt finding and affirmed the sanctions order. The court held that a trial court's judgment or order in a contempt matter is final and conclusive, and the court declined to construe the notice of appeal as a petition for an extraordinary writ. However, the order directing payment of monetary sanctions is directly appealable because it exceeds $5,000. In this case, counsel's decision to not tell the trial court that he had received "word" from opposing counsel, was concealment and a half-truth, violating the attorney's obligation as an officer of the court to be candid with the court. The court rejected the attorney's contention that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to award sanctions and that he received inadequate notice of the factual basis for the requested order to show cause. Finally, the court held that the trial court properly exercised personal jurisdiction over the attorney.
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