Estrada v Mengistu, Los Angeles County Superior Court Case Number 19STCV06863.


From the court's tentative ruling and online county case records it is Lawzilla's understanding the following occurred:

Attorney Herbert Godel, Esq., of Godel and Associates, is an attorney representing the plaintiff.




The defendant sent a request for documents and questions for the plaintiff to answer in April.

Responses were due in May.

Three months later, in July, defendant filed a motion to compel.

There is no mention in the court order of any discussions between defendant's attorney and Herbert Godel to explain why the discovery was not answered.

No opposition to the motion to compel was filed.

In other words, attorney Herbert Godel did not oppose a motion seeking sanctions against him - even though more than $4200 in sanctions were sought.

The judge said $4200 was unreasonable, but did award $900 in sanctions against Herbert Godel and his client.




At the hearing on the motion it does not seem that anyone appeared to argue the motion, so the court made its tentative ruling into a final order.

It is unclear to us why Herbert Godel was sanctioned.

The judge's order does not refer to any improper objections being made by counsel.

The order also does not refer to any improper meet and confer efforts by Herbert Godel.

The statutes referenced in the judge's order refer to sanctions being imposed against anyone who unsuccessfully opposes a motion to compel without justification.

But attorney Herbert Godel did not oppose the motion.

It seems to us that he should have opposed the motion against him personally and/or his law office.

We have seen other discovery orders were the judge sanctioned a party but not their attorney.

However, Mr. Godel did not bother to oppose a request for $4200 in sanctions against him. We only have the court orders and have not reviewed the motions, so it seems the sanctions were admittedly justified.

If an attorney is just going to roll over and let himself be sanctioned, how hard do you think he would fight for you?

Herbert Godel was admitted to the California Bar in 1978. Bar Number 80099.

3440 Wilshire Boulevard #914
Los Angeles, California 90010

Law School: Mid Valley College of Law

Sanctions are Recoverable as a Judgment - Analysis of the little known fact that sanctions awarded in a lawsuit can be enforced as their own separate judgment. Surprise someone by putting a lien on their bank account, home, wages, etc.