Thompson v. Goodell CA4/3

• Court: California Court of Appeal
• Decided: June 29, 2026
• Docket: G065515
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

Filed 6/29/26 Thompson v. Goodell CA4/3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS

California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

JOHN ANTHONY THOMPSON,

Plaintiff and Appellant, G065515

v. (Super. Ct. No. 30-2021- 01236291) TIM GOODELL et al., OPINION Defendants and Respondents.

Appeal from a postjudgment order of the Superior Court of Orange County, David J. Hasseltine, Judge. Reversed. Cummins & White, Scott R. Carpenter and Tony J. Cheng; Bruce Dannemeyer for Plaintiff and Appellant. Much Shelist and Ryan N. Burns for Defendants and Respondents.

* * * This is an appeal of an attorney fees award. The trial court granted the summary judgment motion of defendants Tim Goodell and Lydia Goodell as trustee of the Tim Goodell Irrevocable Trust (collectively, defendants). The court then entered judgment in defendants’ favor (the judgment). Plaintiff John Anthony Thompson filed a separate appeal of the judgment, appellate case No. G064917 (the related appeal). While the related appeal was pending, the trial court awarded defendants $127,844.50 in attorney fees and $4,222.35 in costs (the fees award). Thompson then filed this appeal, arguing that we must reverse the fees award if we reverse the judgment. Since we have reversed the judgment in the related appeal, we agree that the fees award must also be reversed. (Merced County Taxpayers’ Assn. v. Cardella (1990) 218 Cal.App.3d 396, 402 [an order awarding attorney fees and “costs falls with a reversal of the judgment on which it is based”].) Thompson is entitled to his costs incurred in this appeal.

MOORE, ACTING P. J.

WE CONCUR:

SERVINO, J.

SCHWARM, J.*

*Judge of the Orange County Superior Court, assigned by the Chief Justice pursuant to article VI, section 6 of the California Constitution.