Judge: Gregory Keosian, Case: 19STLC01894, Date: 2024-01-10 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 19STLC01894    Hearing Date: January 10, 2024    Dept: 61

Plaintiff FML Management Corp.’s Motion for Attorney Fees After Trial is GRANTED in the amount of $2,000.00.

I.                   MOTION FOR ATTORNEY FEES

“Except as attorney's fees are specifically provided for by statute, the measure and mode of compensation of attorneys and counselors at law is left to the agreement, express or implied, of the parties; but parties to actions or proceedings are entitled to their costs, as hereinafter provided.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 1021.)

“In any action on a contract, where the contract specifically provides that attorney's fees and costs, which are incurred to enforce that contract, shall be awarded either to one of the parties or to the prevailing party, then the party who is determined to be the party prevailing on the contract, whether he or she is the party specified in the contract or not, shall be entitled to reasonable attorney's fees in addition to other costs.” (Civ. Code, § 1717, subd. (a).) “[T]he party prevailing on the contract shall be the party who recovered a greater relief in the action on the contract.” (Civ. Code, § 1717, subd. (b)(1).)

In determining the proper amount of fees to award, courts use the lodestar method.  The lodestar figure is calculated by multiplying the total number of reasonable hours expended by the reasonable hourly rate.  “Fundamental to its determination . . . [is] a careful compilation of the time spent and reasonable hourly compensation of each attorney . . . in the presentation of the case.”  (Serrano v. Priest (1977) 20 Cal.3d 25, 48 (Serrano III).)  A reasonable hourly rate must reflect the skill and experience of the attorney.  (Id. at p. 49.)  “Prevailing parties are compensated for hours reasonably spent on fee-related issues.  A fee request that appears unreasonably inflated is a special circumstance permitting the trial court to reduce the award or deny one altogether.”  (Serrano v. Unruh (1982) 32 Cal.3d 621, 635 (Serrano IV).)  The Court in Serrano IV also stated that fees associated with preparing the motion to recover attorneys’ fees are recoverable.  (See id. at p. 624.)

Plaintiff FML Management Corp. (Plaintiff) seeks $2,000.00 in attorney fees from Defendants Edgar Santiago and Wendy Santiago (Defendants), following trial and judgment in Plaintiff’s favor. Plaintiff relies on a provision in the lease requiring Defendants to pay any actual attorney fees incurred in any actions arising from a breach of the lease agreement. (Ehrich Decl.,Exh. 1, ¶ 18.) Plaintiff’s counsel charged a flat fee of $2,000.00 for prosecuting the present action. (Ehrich Decl. ¶ 4.) The actual compensable hours spent on this matter, though difficult to disentangle from time spent on other matters, would yield a figure greater than $2,000.00, according to Plaintiff’s counsel. (Ehrich Decl. ¶ 5; Feffer Decl. ¶¶ 7–12.)

Plaintiff has shown entitlement to fees under the lease agreement, and further that the $2,000.00 sought here was actually incurred and reasonable. No opposition to the motion has been filed.

The motion is therefore GRANTED.