Judge: Stephen I. Goorvitch, Case: 21STCV07112, Date: 2024-02-15 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 21STCV07112    Hearing Date: February 15, 2024    Dept: 39

Jim Hoseini v. Michael Mercer, et al.

Case No. 21STCV07112

Motion for Attorney’s Fees

            The Court granted Defendants’ special motion to strike under Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16, and awarded Defendants a total of $24,693.89 for attorneys’ fees and costs.  Plaintiff filed a notice of appeal, but the appeal was dismissed because Plaintiff “failed to timely appeal the order granting the anti-SLAPP motion.”  The Court of Appeal ordered that Defendants are entitled to recover their costs on appeal.  However, Defendants’ counsel also seeks $24,872.65 in attorneys’ fees. 

            Defendants’ motion is problematic.  As an initial matter, the notice of motion seeks only attorneys’ fees “incurred in defending an appeal” of the Court’s decision to grant the anti-SLAPP motion.  However, the motion itself seeks a large amount of fees for judgment debtor proceedings in Defendants’ counsel’s effort to collect the prior fees award.  Not only is this not included in the notice of motion, the memorandum of points and authorities cites no authority for the prospect that a judgment creditor may seek attorneys’ fees under these circumstances.  Defendants’ counsel is required to file a comprehensive notice of motion and cite proper authority in support of a request for attorneys’ fees.

            Similarly, the Court is troubled because the motion includes costs on appeal that are not included in the memorandum of costs.  Specifically, Defendants’ counsel seeks $3,527.65 in costs but the memorandum of costs seeks only $390 in filing fees and $43.20 for filings in the Court of Appeal.  Presumably, these costs also stem from judgment debtor proceedings.  Therefore, in the absence of proper notice and statutory authority, the Court considers the motion only with respect to attorneys’ fees that clearly were earned for the appeal in this matter. 

The determination of reasonable amount of attorney fees is within the sound discretion of trial courts. (PLCM Group v. Drexler (2000) 22 Cal.4th 1084, 1095; Akins v. Enterprise Rent-A-Car Co. (2000) 79 Cal. App. 4th 1127, 1134.)  The burden is on the party seeking attorney fees to prove reasonableness of the fees.  (Center for Biological Diversity v. County of San Bernardino (2010) 188 Cal. App. 4th 603, 615.)  The Court has broad discretion in determining the amount of a reasonable attorney’s fee award which will not be overturned absent a “manifest abuse of discretion, a prejudicial error of law, or necessary findings not supported by substantial evidence.”  (Bernardi v. County of Monterey (2008) 167 Cal. App. 4th 1379, 1393-94.)  The Court need not explain its calculation of the amount of attorney’s fees awarded in detail; identifying the factors considered in arriving at the amount will suffice. (Ventura v. ABM Industries Inc. (2012) 212 Cal.App.4th 258, 274-75.)

            The Court’s review of the record suggests that Defendants’ counsel spent limited amounts of time on the appeal.  The Court authorizes the following hours based upon its review of the billing records and its view of the amount of time that reasonably should have been spent on the tasks related to the appeal:

            Jeffrey Lewis:             1.7 Hours       

            Sean Rotstan:              11.9 Hours

            Jason Ebbens:             3.4 Hours

            Renee Miramontes:    3.0 Hours

The Court authorizes the following billing rates:

            Jeffrey Lewis:             $700 per hour

            Sean Rotstan:              $400 per hour

            Jason Ebbens:             $150 per hour

            Renee Miramonte:      $150 per hour

Based upon the foregoing, the Court authorizes the following attorneys’ fees for the appeal:

            Jeffrey Lewis:             $1,190

            Sean Rotstan:              $4,760

            Jason Ebbens:             $510

            Renee Miramonte:      $450

In addition, the Court authorizes an additional five hours for the instant motion and all related proceedings at a rate of $400 per hour, for a total of $2,000.

CONCLUSION AND ORDER

            Based upon the foregoing, the Court orders as follows:

            1.         The Court grants the motion only with respect to attorneys’ fees and costs clearly related to the appeal.  The Court denies the motion for lack of notice and statutory authority with respect to attorneys’ fees relating to judgment debtor proceedings.

            2.         The Court orders Plaintiff to pay an additional $8,910 in attorneys’ fees.

            3.         The Court orders Plaintiff to pay an additional $433.20 in costs.

            4.         Defendants’ counsel shall provide notice and file proof of such with the Court.