Judge: Michael Small, Case: 20STCV37180, Date: 2023-08-24 Tentative Ruling

Inform the clerk if you submit on the tentative ruling. If moving and opposing parties submit, no appearance is necessary.

Case Number: 20STCV37180    Hearing Date: August 24, 2023    Dept: 57

Pending before the Court is Plaintiffs' motion for attorney's fees and costs in this case that was brought under the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act ("Song Beverly Act").The amount of fees and costs that Plaintiffs seek is $67,588.16.  The Court is granting the motion.

In the Court's view, the hourly billing rates for the attorneys whose work is the subject of the motion are reasonable for the nature of that work in the Los Angeles County market.  Furthermore, the Court has determined that the amount of hours the attorneys spent overall on the case and on the specific tasks that Defendant contends in its opposition evince unnecessary work and/or padding/overstaffing.
is reasonable.  In making that determination, the Court has considered the Defendant's point that the case settled and did not go to trial, and that the amount of the settlement was not much more than what Defendant had offered early on in the case.  That is all true.  But it does not render the overall amount of the fee request or the amount for specific tasks along the way to the resolution unreasonable. 

The Court is cognizant of the refrain of Defendants in Song-Beverly Act cases that it is attorney's fees that drive the litigation.   The Court shares that concern.  However, the attorney's fees and costs requested here in this case do not trigger the alarm bells that have been set off by the fee requests in other Song-Beverly Act cases before this Court and the published decisions Defendants cite in which attorney's fees awards in Song-Beverly Act cases have been significantly less than what was requested.