Gallop v. Duval CA2/2

Filed 9/2/21 Gallop v. Duval CA2/2 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

MARILYN GALLOP, B308531

Plaintiff and Appellant, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. v. SS027452)

VICTOR DUVAL et al.,

Defendants and Respondents.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Henry Jay Ford III, Judge. Reversed and remanded with directions.

Law Offices of Bennett Kerns and Bennett Kerns for Plaintiff and Appellant.

Law Offices of Joseph F. Hart and Joseph F. Hart for Defendants and Respondents.

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Marilyn Gallop (appellant) contends that the trial court erred when it denied her motion for attorney fees as untimely when it was filed on February 5, 2020. We agree. Contrary to what the trial court concluded, appellant’s notice of ruling on posttrial matters did not constitute notice of entry of that order. Thus, California Rules of Court, rules 3.1702(b)(1), 8.104(a)(1)(A), 8.108(b)(1)(A) and 8.108(c)(1) did not require appellant to serve her motion in January 2020.1 Rather, because there was no notice of entry of the posttrial order, rules 1.10(b), 3.1702(b)(1), 8.108(b)(1)(C) and 8.108(c)(3) gave appellant to Wednesday, May 13, 2020, to file her motion by extending the time to 180 days after entry of judgment on November 15, 2019. Thus, we

1 All further references to rules are to the California Rules of Court. Rule 3.1702(b)(1) ties the time to file a motion for attorney fees to the time to notice an appeal under rules 8.104 and 8.108. The trial court determined that rule 8.104(a)(1)(A) applied and required the motion to be filed 60 days after notice of entry of judgment was mailed on Monday, November 18, 2019. The trial court stated that the final day for appellant to file her motion was Monday, January 20, 2020. “The time in which any act provided by law is to be done is computed by excluding the first day, and including the last, unless the last day is a holiday, and then it is also excluded.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 12.) “[I]f the last day for the performance of any act that is required by these rules to be performed within a specific period . . . falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or other legal holiday, the period is extended to and includes the next day that is not a holiday.” (Rule 1.10(b).) The 60th day, not including November 18, 2019, was January 17, 2020. We note that January 20, 2020, was observed as a holiday by the Los Angeles Superior Court to celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.