Judge: Armen Tamzarian, Case: 22STCV10707, Date: 2024-03-06 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 22STCV10707    Hearing Date: March 6, 2024    Dept: 52

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES

Plaintiffs Vahik Sarkissian and Yvette Kotchounian move for $84,798.75 in attorney fees under Civil Code section 1794, subdivision (d). 

Lodestar

            Plaintiffs seek attorney fees incurred for the following hours and rates:

Hourly Rates

For hourly rates, “the trial court is in the best position to value the services rendered by the attorneys.”  (569 East County Boulevard LLC v. Backcountry Against the Dump, Inc. (2016) 6 Cal.App.5th 426, 436.)  Courts may rely on their “own knowledge and familiarity with the legal market, as well as the experience, skill, and reputation of the attorney requesting fees, the difficulty or complexity of the litigation to which that skill was applied, and affidavits from other attorneys regarding prevailing fees in the community and rate determinations in other cases.” (Id. at p. 437, citations omitted.)

Plaintiffs’ counsel sometimes used its most experienced attorneys to do work that could have been done by a less experienced attorney with a lower rate.  For example, Norman F. Taylor has over 35 years of experience bringing cases under the Song-Beverly Act.  (Taylor Decl., ¶ 6.)  He participated in writing the CACI jury instructions for the statute and has written two books on consumer warranty laws.  (Id., ¶¶ 9-10.)  But Taylor billed for simple tasks such as 0.7 hours on June 16, 2022, to “check the trial calendar; draft and prepare plaintiffs’ CMC statement and notice of posting jury fees” (id., Ex. 1, p. 4) and 6.9 hours drafting written discovery on November 16, 2022 (id., p. 5). 

Based on its knowledge of the legal market, its review of the credentials and experience of plaintiffs’ attorneys, the routine nature of this Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act case, and the particular tasks performed by counsel, the court reduces the rates for plaintiffs’ counsel and paralegals as shown below:

Hours

In calculating the lodestar, the court must determine whether the tasks performed by an attorney were necessary and whether the amount of time billed for each task was reasonable.  (Baxter v. Bock (2016) 247 Cal.App.4th 775, 793.)  The moving party has the burden of proof on these issues.  (Ibid.)  The number of hours billed may be unreasonable if the case is “overstaffed” with too many lawyers, resulting in redundant or unnecessary work.  (Hensley v. Eckerhart (1983) 461 U.S. 424, 434). 

After reviewing counsel’s billing records (Taylor Decl., Ex. 1; Wirtz Decl., Ex. 1), the court finds plaintiffs reasonably incurred all attorney fees with one exception.  They claim 6 hours at $550 hourly for anticipated work by Amy R. Rotman reviewing defendant’s opposition, drafting the reply, and preparing for the hearing.  (Wirtz Decl., Ex. 1, p. 23.)  Defendant did not oppose this motion.  Plaintiffs did not file a reply.  The court will therefore reduce these entries from 6 hours to 1.5 hours incurred preparing for and attending the hearing.    

Multiplier

Plaintiffs seek a 1.5 multiplier to the lodestar.  The court finds no multiplier is appropriate.  Multipliers may be awarded based on factors including “(1) the novelty and difficulty of the questions involved, (2) the skill displayed in presenting them, (3) the extent to which the nature of the litigation precluded other employment by the attorneys, (4) the contingent nature of the fee award.”  (Ketchum v. Moses (2001) 24 Cal.4th 1122, 1132.) 

This case did not involve novel or difficult questions.  Plaintiffs’ counsel did not demonstrate exceptional skill in litigating the case.  Counsel’s hourly rates adequately account for representation on contingency.  (See Horsford v. Board of Trustees of California State University (2005) 132 Cal.App.4th 359, 395.)

DISPOSITION

            Plaintiffs’ motion for attorney fees is granted in part.  After accounting for the reduced hourly rates and hours, the court calculates the award this way:

          Plaintiffs Vahik Sarkissian and Yvette Kotchounian shall recover $42,535 in attorney fees from defendant BMW of North America, LLC. 

                                                            IT IS SO ORDERED

Date:   March 6, 2024

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