Gogal v. Deng

Summary

The California Court of Appeal held that parties may contractually waive or limit their statutory right under Code of Civil Procedure section 1032(b) to recover litigation costs. Applying Civil Code section 3513, the court concluded that section 1032 primarily serves private financial interests and that enforcing a lease provision capping attorney’s fees and costs at $1,000 would not seriously compromise a public purpose. The court reversed the postjudgment order awarding the tenants approximately $14,000 in costs and directed the trial court to strike the memorandum of costs.

Holdings

1. Section 1032(b) establishes a default rule under which a prevailing party is entitled to recover specified litigation costs, but it does not prohibit parties from contractually waiving or limiting that right.
2. A contractual waiver or limitation of the right to recover costs under section 1032(b) is enforceable under Civil Code section 3513 because the primary purpose of section 1032(b) is to protect private financial interests rather than a public purpose whose compromise would make waiver impermissible.
3. The trial court erred by declining to enforce the lease's $1,000 cap; the postjudgment order awarding tenants their litigation costs must be reversed and the tenants' memorandum of costs struck.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Code of Civil Procedure section 1032(b) prohibits parties from contractually waiving or limiting their statutory right to recover litigation costs.
2. Whether Civil Code section 3513 renders a contractual waiver or limitation of section 1032(b) costs unenforceable because the statute serves a public purpose.
3. Whether the lease's $1,000 cap on attorney fees and costs was enforceable against the tenants' request for statutory litigation costs.

Disposition

reversed