Breakaway parish will not have to repay fees to Diocese: CEN 5.22.09 p 6. May 26, 2009
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Los Angeles, Property Litigation.trackback
A California court has rejected the bid by the Diocese of Los Angeles to recoup its legal costs from the wardens and vestry members of a breakaway parish that quit the Episcopal Church for the Province of Uganda.
On May 15, Orange County Superior Court Judge Thierry Colaw rejected the diocese’s motion to collect an estimated £4.5 million in attorney fees from the volunteer board. The procedural victory for the breakaway parish of St James in Newport Beach does not address the broader issues of ownership of the property or its case before the US Supreme Court, however, a win by the diocese would have effectively bankrupted the parish leaders, and would have served as a strong financial disincentive for secession for other parishes.
Today’s motion was a heavy-handed attempt by the Diocese, which has engaged in “scorched earth” litigation tactics against St. James Church for years, to recoup its attorneys’ fees, parish attorney Eric Sohlgren said.
In its motion for costs, the Diocese of Los Angeles argued the parish’s motion to strike off the complaint was “frivolous” and warranted the sanction of a fees award. The case began when the diocese brought suit against St. James and its vestry in September 2004 following its August secession from the Episcopal Church. St James, along with two other breakaway parishes, filed a motion to strike the diocese’s lawsuit under a California statute that provides for speedy evaluation of cases involving free speech rights.
The lower court granted the parishes’ motion to strike, but was overturned on appeal. In January the California Supreme Court upheld the appellate court’s ruling, and an appeal was lodged with the US Supreme Court in Washington.
At the May 15 hearing, Judge Colaw noted that while the special motion for review based on free speech rights had never been used in church property disputes, it was not “frivolous.” The initial case brought by the diocese in 2004 has yet to be argued before the court, and the next hearing is scheduled for September.
