Corenbaum v. Lampkin

In Corenbaum v. Lampkin (2013) 215 Cal.App.4th 1308, the court addressed whether, under Code of Civil Procedure section 1021.4, a civil action for damages was "'based upon'" a violation of Vehicle Code section 20001 when the plaintiff's injuries were caused during the initial car accident, rather than the defendant's flight from the accident. (215 Cal.App.4th at pp. 1324-1325, 1339.) Pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 1021.4, a court may award attorney's fees to a prevailing plaintiff in a civil action that is "based upon that defendant's commission of a felony offense for which that defendant has been convicted." The court concluded the civil action was not "based upon" a violation of Vehicle Code section 20001 because the injury for which the plaintiff sought damages occurred during the initial accident, not the subsequent flight. The court stated that "many courts have concluded that the conduct made criminal by Vehicle Code section 20001 ... is fleeing the scene of an injury accident without providing the required information or rendering assistance, rather than causing or being involved in the accident itself." (215 Cal.App.4th at p. 1340.) "Accordingly, the damages recoverable in a civil action for violation of the statute are limited to those caused by fleeing rather than damages caused by the accident itself. We therefore conclude that when a defendant has been convicted of a violation of Vehicle Code section 20001, subdivision (a), the conduct constituting the commission of a felony for purposes of Code of Civil Procedure section 1021.4 is fleeing the scene of an injury accident without providing the required information or rendering assistance." (Id. at pp. 1340-1341.)