RFAs Shift Fees When You Can't Win

Samsky v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., No. B293885 (D2d8 as modified Jul. 23, 2019)


If a party denies a request for admission but fails to prevail on the issue at trial, the propounding party is entitled to recover costs of proof under Code of Civil Procedure § 2033.420(a) unless an exception in § 2033.420(b) applies. Although the burdens aren’t expressly set out in the statute, the Court of Appeal here decides that the structure of the statute assigns the burden of proof of an exception to the party seeking to avoid fees by justifying its denial.

Here, Plaintiff asked an Insurer to admit, among other things, that a tortfeasor was negligent and a cause of his injuries. Insurer denied. But Plaintiff prevailed on the issue in an arbitration. When Plaintiff sought fees, however, the trial court found that Plaintiff had not shown the lack of a reasonable justification for the denial. That got the burden wrong. Insurer didn’t offer adequate evidence of its own to sustain its burden. That required it to come forward with credible, admissible evidence on which a contrary finding could have been sustained, such that Insurer had a reasonable belief that it would prevail at trial. So no exception was established. Plaintiff should have recovered his fees.

Reversed.