Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

You can disagree with the judge all you like, but responses to requests for admissions are required by law to be verified. I would pay the sanctions and, if you lose the case, sue the attorney who is handling your case for legal malpractice.

File a writ or an appeal.

I suggest you be grateful the judge did not impose the sanction he or she could have imposed: deeming all the matters admitted. Ignore Mr. Selik. You cannot appeal the order, period. It is a non-appealable order. You could ask the Court of Appeals to review it for abuse of discretion under a writ of mandamus, but considering what the judge did was perfectly within the law and his or her discretion, all you will do is see to it that the Court of Appeal has a chance to sanction you too. The judge is right, you are wrong, get over it.

Unless it was a very large amount [more than $900-1,200], it is not worthwhile to do anything but accept the sanctions. I assume the other side notified you that the responses had to be verified but you still did not do so and required that a hearing be held. If that is the case, then you did not act in a reasoned, professional manner and almost every judge would have sanctioned you. Remember that you will have to appear before this judge again on the case so you do not want to upset him unless really necessary.

You don't tell us the amount of the sanctions award, and that amount determines your rights. If the sanction is over $5,000, you have the right to an immediate appeal. If the amount is $5,000 or less, you can appeal it at the end of the case, or try your luck with a Petition for Writ of Mandamus/Prohibition.

In any case, you also don't tell us why you believe that the judge is incorrect. If the sanctions were issued in violation of some rule or law, you may have grounds for an appeal or writ petition. If, on the other hand, the judge simply disbelieved your side of the story, you will lose the appeal or writ petition.