Saying “No, You Can’t Have The Documents,” Can Be Costly.

A shipping association requested documents from the port agent for a few California ports under the Public Records Act [Government Code section 6250, et seq.]. A port agent refused and the association filed a Writ of Mandate, which the trial court granted and which order the Court of Appeal declined to overturn. Thereafter, the port agent produced more than 1,000 square feet of oversized documents, and the association filed a motion for attorney fees and costs. The trial court ordered the port agent to pay the association $260,608, and, once again, the Court of Appeal declined to overturn the trial court’s order. (Pacific Merchant Shipping Assn. v. Board of Pilot Commissioners etc. (Cal. App. First Dist., Div. 5; November 6, 2015) (Ord. Pub. December 3, 2015) 242 Cal.App.4th 1043 [195 Cal.Rptr.3d 358].)