California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from Smith v. Rae-Venter Law Group, 127 Cal.Rptr.2d 516, 29 Cal.4th 345, 58 P.3d 367 (Cal. 2002):
Under the fee- and cost-shifting provision of the judicial arbitration statute, a party who requests a trial de novo and fails to obtain a judgment "more favorable in either the amount of damages awarded or the type of relief granted" must pay the opposing party's costs and attorney fees to the extent authorized by contract or statute. (Code Civ. Proc, 1141.21, subd. (a).) "The trial de novo provides the losing party with yet another chance to present its case, but that party also assumes a risk by requesting the trial: if the judgment for the party electing the trial de novo is not more favorable, either in the amount of damages awarded or the type of relief sought, than was the arbitration award, that party must reimburse the county for the compensation paid to the arbitrator, as well as paying the opposing party the costs it has incurred as a result of the trial." (Weber v. Kessler, supra, 126 Cal.App.3d at p. 1036, 179 Cal.Rptr. 299.)
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