Valle v Vu, Orange County Superior Court Case Number 30-2016-00831234.


From the court of appeals ruling it is Lawzilla's understanding the following occurred:

The defendant and person filing an appeal retained attorney Richard Lara to represent him in the appeal. Lara is listed by the court of appeals as the lawyer for the defendant and appellant.




In the case a plaintiff had sued for breach of a settlement agreement.

The matter was tried to a court and the court found defendant had breached the contract.




Defendant filed an appeal, after which plaintiff filed a motion for sanctions.

The court of appeals agreed sanctions were warranted. Two reasons were given:

A partially frivolous appeal, and

Unreasonable violations of the California Rules of Court.




Frivolous Claims

The court of appeals said an appeal is frivolous "when any reasonable attorney would agree that the appeal is totally and completely without merit."




The justices said Lara asserted three arguments in the appeal.

Two of the arguments were "frivolous" and "no reasonable attorney" would have made the claims.

For the third argument the unanimous court of appeals said it was "without merit", but not so egregiously lacking in merit to justify sanctions.







Unreasonable Violations of California Rules of Court

The court of appeals said attorney Richard Lara's brief included "many" violations.

This included claiming facts in the brief but without citing to the record where the fact could be found.

The court also said citations were made but the record did not support the fact being asserted.

Plaintiff's counsel notified Richard Lara, Esq., of the violations but he did not respond.

The court said Lara never tried to justify the violations or even acknowledge their existence.




At one point the court of appeals said Lara's briefing of his client's claims was "essentially a stream of consciousness and nothing more."




Attorney Richard Lara Sanctioned $6445.25

The court of appeals then said it was sanctioning attorney Robert Lara, and his client, $6445.25




Attorney Richard Lara Referred to California State Bar for Potential Discipline

In addition to monetary sanctions, the judge ordered the matter referred to the California State Bar.




One of the laws cited by the court of appeals says the State Bar "shall" investigate the matter for possible discipline against the attorney.

"The State Bar shall investigate any matter reported under this section as to the appropriateness of initiating disciplinary action against the attorney." (Business and Professions Code section 6086.7(c))

It is never good when an attorney is sanctioned.

We would want an attorney to know the law and to not make frivolous arguments "no reasonable attorney" would make.

We would also want an attorney to not violate rules of court.

Lawzilla reviews many appellate rulings and in our opinion it is extremely rare to see an attorney be sanctioned and reported to the State Bar for possible discipline due to appellate misconduct.

Would you hire attorney Richard Lara? Does it make sense if the bar suspends or disbars him and thus requires finding a new attorney anyway?

Richard Lara was admitted to the California Bar in 2016. Bar Number 309835.

Law Offices of Richard Lara
135 East Valley Boulevard, Alhambra, California 91801

Law School: Whittier 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.