THOUSAND OAKS : Sanctions Dismissed Against 2 Lawyers

An appellate court has reversed a ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Dickran Tevrizian that imposed $611,000 in sanctions against two Thousand Oaks lawyers for filing what he called a frivolous lawsuit.

In a decision written by Judge J. Clifford Wallace, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Tevrizian’s ruling after finding that “the district court abused its discretion in imposing sanctions” on lawyers Theresa A. Hooks and Shelby H. Moore Jr. The ruling was issued Sept. 28.

Hooks and Moore represented the Westlake North Property Owners Assn. in its unsuccessful attempt to force the city of Thousand Oaks and two developers of a 2,257-unit housing tract to conduct an extensive environmental impact report on the project.

The homeowners group filed the suit in 1988 against the city and the Lang Ranch Co. and the Anden Group. The suit charged that a legal settlement negotiated in 1986 failed to require a full environmental study.

Tevrizian ruled that the homeowners group was bound by the legal settlement because its members, as residents of the city, were represented by the Thousand Oaks City Council in the negotiations.

Tevrizian ruled that Moore and Hooks acted frivolously in challenging the 1986 settlement.

But according to the opinion by Wallace, the imposition of sanctions was erroneous, and “Moore and Hooks had a good faith argument for their view of what the law is, or should be.”

The reversal does not affect sanctions imposed on the homeowners.

Tevrizian had imposed a $735,000 penalty on the homeowners group, which later settled by agreeing to pay developers $138,000 for legal fees and damages.

Lawyers for Lang Ranch could not be reached for comment.

Attorneys and homeowners groups hailed the decision as a victory.

Lawyers feared the huge sanctions would have a chilling effect on people who want to challenge environmental impact reports, said Antonette Cordero, a deputy in the state attorney general’s office who filed arguments on behalf of Moore and Hooks asking that the decision be reversed.