( February 16, 2024, 9:37 AM EST) -- SAN DIEGO — A California appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s judgment and $264,440 attorney fee award in favor of a plaintiff in her lawsuit seeking to collect under a surety bond for a fraud judgment entered against an automobile dealer, finding that because the plaintiff prevailed on her claim that the dealer violated the California Consumers Legal Remedies Act, she was statutorily entitled to recover her attorney fees from the dealer as an item of costs and the insurer is also liable for these costs because its liability as surety is commensurate with that of its principal....