Judge: Curtis A. Kin, Case: 21STCV35635, Date: 2023-03-09 Tentative Ruling


Case Number: 21STCV35635    Hearing Date: March 9, 2023    Dept: 72

MOTION FOR ATTORNEY FEES

AND COSTS PURSUANT TO

CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE § 425.16(c)

  

Date:               3/9/23 (8:30 AM)

Case:               Chris Nelson v. Phoebe Bridgers (21STCV35635)

  

TENTATIVE RULING:

 

Defendant Phoebe Bridgers’ Motion for Attorney Fees Pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure § 425.16 is GRANTED IN PART.

 

On November 9, 2022, the Court granted defendant Phoebe Bridgers’ Special Motion to Strike. Pursuant to CCP § 425.16(c)(1), defendant is entitled to an award of reasonable attorney fees.

“A trial court may not rubber stamp a request for attorney fees, but must determine the number of hours reasonably expended.” (Donahue v. Donahue (2010) 182 Cal.App.4th 259, 271.)

 

Defendant seeks an award of $670,512.00, which includes the fees incurred in preparing the reply in support of the instant motion.

 

As a threshold matter, the Court finds that the hourly rates claimed by defendant counsel are reasonable. However, the Court notes that such relatively high billing rates must necessarily correlate with reduced time spent completing tasks due to the greater experience that such rates indicate.

 

Even though defense counsel represented defendant on a partial pro bono basis, defense counsel is entitled to the reasonable value of their services. (See Chacon v. Litke (2010) 181 Cal.App.4th 1234, 1260.)

 

The Court has reviewed the billing entries from counsel for defendant and finds that there have been some excessive billings for certain matters. (Strub Decl. ¶ 4 & Ex. A; Supp. Strub Decl. ¶ 6 & Ex. F.) Accordingly, the Court makes the following reductions:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Defendant also agrees to withdraw her request for $6,895 in fees in connection with activities not related to the anti-SLAPP motion. (See 569 East County Boulevard LLC v. Backcountry Against the Dump, Inc. (2016) 6 Cal.App.5th 426, 433 [“A fee award under the anti-SLAPP statute may not include matters unrelated to the anti-SLAPP motion, such as ‘attacking service of process, preparing and revising an answer to the complaint, [or] summary judgment research.’ [Citation.]”.)

 

The Court otherwise finds that the billing entries are reasonably incurred and reasonably connected to the anti-SLAPP motion, including plaintiff’s efforts to strike the confidentiality designations in defendant’s deposition. The time spent researching plaintiff’s other defamation claims against Emily Bannon and Noel Wells is reasonably related to the anti-SLAPP motion in this action. (See Supp. Strub Decl. ¶ 5.) Counsel for plaintiff’s fees are not indicative of the reasonableness of defense counsel’s fees. (Goglin v. BMW of North America, LLC 4 Cal.App.5th 462, 473–74 [“Although BMW North America and BMW San Diego presented evidence they paid their counsel much lower hourly rates, the trial court was not obliged to accept this evidence as conclusive of the appropriate hourly rate for the work performed by Goglin's counsel”].) Further, the fact that more than one attorney worked on a particular task is not necessarily unreasonable, as collaboration is not necessarily duplicative. (Premier Medical Management Systems, Inc. v. California Ins. Guarantee Assn. (2008) 163 Cal.App.4th 550, 562.)

 

The motion is GRANTED IN PART. Using the appropriate lodestar approach, and based on the foregoing findings and in view of the totality of the circumstances, the total and reasonable amount of attorney fees incurred for the work performed in connection with the Special Motion to Strike is $493,135.60 ($670,512.00 total request - $177,376.40 reduction). Such fees and costs are awarded to defendant Phoebe Bridgers against plaintiff Chris Nelson.