Attorney Dennis Temko Obtains Court of Appeal Reversal Requiring the Trial Court to Reconsider Sanctions Against Client

SAN DIEGO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / January 31, 2020 / Appellate family law attorney Dennis Temko has won an order from a California appeals court (Case # D074434) requiring a San Diego superior court to reevaluate the cost of a financial penalty against his client.

Temko's client, the former wife in a divorce, was ordered to pay $200,000 in sanctions after a San Diego Superior Court found that she had not cooperated with the court's order to turn over property to her ex-husband. In his client's appeal to California's Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division One, Temko argued that the award improperly included payment for the husband's costs and fees unrelated to the litigation. The payment was to be taken partly out of spousal support paid by the husband to the wife.

The appeals court agreed. California Family Code Section 271 permits only "an award of attorney's fees and costs," the court said. Since the trial court's award included the cost of the husband's travel, lost vacation time, and perhaps other transactions not related to attorney's fees and costs, the appeals court sent the case back to the trial court for recalculation. The trial court on remand was required to explain how the new award related to the ex-husband's attorney's fees and costs, which will likely result in a lower award.

About Dennis Temko: Based in San Diego, appellate attorney Dennis Temko focuses his practice on family law appeals and writs. He handles matters including divorce, child custody, child support and spousal support, high-net-worth or high-income situations, stock options, domestic violence restraining orders, imputation of income, and Ostler/Smith orders for handling financial awards for people with fluctuating incomes.

Named a Rising Star by Super Lawyers Magazine in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, Temko has handled matters resulting in at least thirteen published opinions from California state appeals courts. After graduating from California Western School of Law, Temko was admitted to the California State Bar in 2013. He serves on the board of the San Diego Family Law Bar and is a member of the Family Law Section of the San Diego County Bar Association and the San Diego Appellate Inn of Court. He also volunteers with the self-help workshop for self-represented litigants for California's Fourth District, Division One, Court of Appeal.

For more information, visit https://www.dennistemkolaw.com/ or call (858) 274 3538.

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SOURCE: Dennis Temko

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