Orange County Catering Dispute: Why an $81,875 Attorney-Fee Request Yielded Only $1,950

An Orange County restaurant operator catered for a family attending the 2022 Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia. The parties agreed on a menu but never signed a contract or discussed pricing. After a $74,960 invoice went unpaid, the operator sued for breach of contract, and a jury awarded $60,391. ¹

Three dollar figures followed the verdict, and they should not be confused. The business requested $81,875 in cost-of-proof attorney fees under Code of Civil Procedure § 2033.420(a) based on the defendant’s denial of a request for admission; the trial court awarded $1,950. Separately, the business claimed $25,741.20 in court reporting costs, which the trial court struck entirely. The Court of Appeal affirmed both rulings. The $1,950 figure is the trial court’s exercise of discretion in this case—not a statutory cap. ¹

The request at issue asked the defendant to admit he contracted for food and catering services for the entire seven days of the tournament. The court agreed the request was unfocused—it bundled several ancillary facts—but that did not excuse a blanket denial. Under § 2033.220(a), each answer must be as complete and straightforward as the information reasonably available permits. Under subdivision (b), the responding party must admit so much of the matter as is true, with reasonable qualifications, and deny so much as is untrue. ²

If a party cannot admit a matter because it lacks sufficient information or knowledge, its response must state that it made a reasonable inquiry and that the information known or readily obtainable remains insufficient to admit the matter. Valid objections remain available, but the response must clearly state their grounds. If only part of a request is objectionable, the remainder must be answered. An objection does not itself justify denying portions that should truthfully be admitted. ²⁵

Under § 2033.420(a), a party that fails to admit a matter the requesting party later proves may be ordered to pay the reasonable expenses of that proof, including reasonable attorney fees. Subdivision (b) makes the award mandatory in structure: the court shall make the order unless it finds an exception. ³

The statute lists four exceptions: (1) an objection to the request was sustained or a response was waived under § 2033.290; (2) the admission sought was of no substantial importance; (3) the party failing to admit had reasonable ground to believe it would prevail on the matter; or (4) there was other good reason for the failure to admit. Evaluating these exceptions and setting a reasonable amount involves judicial discretion. An unsuccessful denial is not automatically dishonest or punitive—the award is reimbursement for proof that should have been unnecessary, not punishment. ¹³

The fee request failed largely on documentation. The business sought all fees incurred from the denial through trial, but the trial’s primary focus was the value of the catering services, not whether a contract existed. Because the business never isolated the fees spent proving contract formation, a small award was reasonable—and outright denial would have been permissible. The moving party bears the burden of pruning its request; it cannot ask the court to sort the invoices. ¹

The practical lessons run in both directions: draft focused requests, and give focused, qualified answers. When seeking cost-of-proof fees, billing descriptions or other supporting evidence should link the claimed work to the particular proof the denial made necessary. Not every fee incurred after a denial is recoverable, and billing entries are not the only permissible evidence—but some reliable way to connect work to the denied matter is essential.

Allowable costs generally include court reporter fees as established by statute under § 1033.5(a)(11), but transcripts of court proceedings not ordered by the court are ordinarily excluded under § 1033.5(b)(5) unless expressly authorized by law. The business did not show its claimed trial transcripts were court-ordered or otherwise authorized, so the entire $25,741.20 item was stricken. Not every reporter attendance fee requires a court order; the problem here was an inadequate showing of recoverability. ¹⁴

Discovery responses written early can have real financial consequences at a case’s end. A truthful partial admission can limit later fee exposure; a blanket denial of a provable fact can create it. And a fee motion is only as strong as its proof: segregating the work tied to the denied matter is the moving party’s job. For when a winning party can recover fees at all, see Winning a California Lawsuit Does Not Automatically Mean Recovering Attorney Fees. Mahrouyan Law’s Business Litigation practice addresses contract and discovery disputes.