Court of Appeal finds defendant’s reliance on its expert’s opinions, based on the sophistication of the technical issues, supported the reasonableness of its belief that it would prevail at trial.
Orange County Water Dist. v. The Arnold Engineering Co. ., 4DCA/1 California Courts of Appeal, No. D070763, Jan. 10, 2019
A recent California Court of Appeals’ decision has held that where requests for admissions require sophisticated analyses of technical issues, courts are more willing to credit a party’s reasonable belief that it would prevail based on expert opinion evidence. In that case, involving complex issues of water contamination, defendant denied plaintiff’s RFA’s based on the opinion of its expert. The trial court granted plaintiff’s request for an award of costs – attorneys’ and experts’ fees - based on defendant’s refusal to admit the RFA’s.
The Court of Appeals reversed finding that defendant’s reliance on its expert’s opinions, based on the sophistication of the technical issues, supported the reasonableness of its belief that it would prevail at trial on the issues addressed by Plaintiff’s RFA’s.