TENTATIVE RULING

Defendants GNH Productions Inc.; Telepictures Productions Inc.; Warner Horizon Television Inc.; and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc.’s Motion to Recover Fees and Costs is GRANTED in the amount of $206,555.20. Costs shall be awarded pursuant to statute.

Defendants GNH Productions Inc.; Telepictures Productions Inc.; Warner Horizon Television Inc.; and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. to give notice. 

REASONING

On January 25, 2024, the Honorable H. Jay Ford III granted Defendants GNH Productions Inc.; Telepictures Productions Inc.; Warner Horizon Television Inc.; and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (“Defendants”)’s special motion to strike pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16. The Court entered an order granting the motion and entered judgment in Defendants’ favor on February 20, 2024. The action was then transferred to this department on May 28, 2024. Defendants now move for an award of attorney fees pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16, subdivision (c), which provides that “a prevailing defendant on a special motion to strike shall be entitled to recover that defendant’s attorney’s fees and costs.” Defendants move for an order awarding them $206,555.20 in attorney fees, which consists of 331.00 hours of attorney week at varying rates between $368 per hour to $820 per hour. Plaintiff Adam J. Tenser (“Plaintiff”) has not filed an opposition to the motion.

The fee setting inquiry in California ordinarily “begins with the ‘lodestar’ [method], i.e., the number of hours reasonably expended multiplied by the reasonable hourly rate.” (Graciano v. Robinson Ford Sales, Inc. (2006) 144 Cal.App.4th 140, 154.) “[A] computation of time spent on a case and the reasonable value of that time is fundamental to a determination of an appropriate attorneys’ fee award.” (Margolin v. Reg’l Planning Comm’n (1982) 134 Cal.App.3d 999, 1004.)

The Court has reviewed the special motion to strike and billing sheets relating to the same and finds that the work performed by the various attorneys was reasonable and necessary to prevail on the motion, and Defendants are also entitled to recover attorney fees for certain subsequent motions relating to Defendants’ special motion to strike, including a motion for reconsideration and motion for choice of law. It is axiomatic that the purpose of the fee-shifting provision of Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16, subdivision (c), exists for “compensating the prevailing defendant for the undue burden of defending against litigation designed to chill the exercise of free speech and petition rights.” (Barry v. State Bar of California (2017) 2 Cal.5th 318, 328.) While the number of hours spent litigating the anti-SLAPP motion and the related motions was high, the Court finds the time spent was reasonable given the complexity of the motions, and an award of this amount is proper where the purpose of such an award seeks to compensate a party who was required to defend against an action designed to chill the party’s free speech and petition rights. Accordingly, Defendants GNH Productions Inc.; Telepictures Productions Inc.; Warner Horizon Television Inc.; and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc.’s Motion to Recover Fees and Costs is GRANTED in the amount of $206,555.20. Costs shall be awarded pursuant to statute.