Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Re: i believe i am being sued without cause

A referee can't decide dispositive issues, but you say this referee was only supposed to make recommendations. That is not the same thing as deciding the issue. The final decision rests with the judge, who should use his or her own judgment and not simply adopt the referee's report but who may properly look to that report for guidance.

The referee was not a party to your case and therefore could not bring a collection action within that case. Instead, he would need to start a separate action, which seems to be what he has done.

You don't say whether the costs "as itemized in the report" include the $2,000 you are now being asked to pay, and that is an important point. If it was included then it is not a "further cost" and would not require a further order. If the $2,000 was not among the itemized costs then you have a good argument, but I would need more facts to know just how good it is.

Whoever sued your lawyer was a bit inept. The referee is assigned for the benefit of the parties and not the lawyers, so the lawyers are not responsible for the bills. The situation would be different if this were someone your lawyer hired, but the lawyer presumably never agreed to pay the bills of someone the court appointed. Besides, even if he had paid the bills, you would probably still owe the money -- to him instead of the referee.

I do think you have a good defense based upon the statute of limitations. Offhand I don't know what the limitations period is for "open book" claims but I doubt the claim can still be brought six years later. Hopefully another LawGuru attorney will know the applicable limitation period and post it here.

Re: i believe i am being sued without cause

There is probably not enough information to adequately give a full answer. The private judge may have been appointed by the Court but there is not enough information to determine if that billing is proper. One issue that appears is it may be beyond the time limitations.

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Re: i believe i am being sued without cause

Neither an attorney nor a collection agency can sue you in small claims court. Was the agreement between the referee and the attorney or you and referee?

Re: i believe i am being sued without cause

The statute of limitations is usually four years on a written contract, and it sounds like you're beyond that.