Ilshin Investment Co., Ltd. v. Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc

In Ilshin Investment Co., Ltd. v. Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc. (2011) 195 Cal.App.4th 612, the court held that section 701.020's attorney fees provision does not apply to independent creditors' suits: "Section 701.020 provides for a third person's liability to a judgment creditor if the third person 'is required by this article' to deliver property to the levying officer, and refuses to do so without good cause. . Its reference in section 701.020, subdivision (c) to 'the third person's liability' therefore does not encompass any possible liability for which the third party may later be found to be responsible, such as liability for breach of contract in an action brought under section 708.210. It is a reference to the liability specified in section 701.020, subdivision (a): the third person's liability for its failure to deliver property to the levying officer as 'required by this article'--article 5 of chapter 3, dealing with duties and liabilities after levy, not article 3 of chapter 6, dealing with independent creditor's suits." The Ilshin court very pointedly referred to the lawsuit in which the attorney fees were not recoverable as an "independent creditor's suit" (Ilshin, supra, 195 Cal.App.4th at pp. 616, 625, 627, 628, 629, 630, italics added), an "independent creditor's claim" (id. at p. 626, some italics omitted), or an "independent creditor's action" (id. at pp. 626, 629, italics added).