Judge: William A. Crowfoot, Case: 23AHCV02186, Date: 2025-06-06 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 23AHCV02186    Hearing Date: June 6, 2025    Dept: 3

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES - NORTHEAST DISTRICT

The Court CONTINUES the hearing on Plaintiff’s application for default judgment to ___________ at 8:30 a.m. in Department 3 of the Alhambra Courthouse. The hearing is continued because Plaintiff’s request for $14,000 in attorneys’ fees is excessive. Although Plaintiff’s counsel, Richard Meaglia, declares that he has spent over 40 hours on this case and that his hourly rate is $350, the Court is unconvinced that this amount of time is reasonable given that this is a default judgment. For context, under Local Rule section 3.214, the amount of attorneys’ fees due under Plaintiff’s contract with Space Product Millwork would be around $5,280.77. If Plaintiff wishes to recover a greater amount in attorneys’ fees, Plaintiff should submit additional information from counsel regarding the amount of time spent on the various tasks he claims he performed. (Statement of Case, pp. 13-14.)

Plaintiff also does not explain why defendants Richard Zamora and Edelstein Construction would be responsible for $14,000 in attorneys’ fees if the total damages attributable to them are only $5,087.40. Moreover, the total judgment is unclear from the way the proposed judgment on file is currently drafted because it provides for the possibility of double recovery of costs, fees, and treble damages.

          All revised and additional paperwork must be filed no later than 5 court days before the date of the hearing.

Dated this 6th day of June 2025

Parties who intend to submit on this tentative must send an email to the Court at ALHDEPT3@lacourt.org indicating intention to submit on the tentative as directed by the instructions provided on the court website at www.lacourt.org. Please be advised that if you submit on the tentative and elect not to appear at the hearing, the opposing party may nevertheless appear at the hearing and argue the matter. Unless you receive a submission from all other parties in the matter, you should assume that others might appear at the hearing to argue. If the Court does not receive emails from the parties indicating submission on this tentative ruling and there are no appearances at the hearing, the Court may, at its discretion, adopt the tentative as the final order or place the motion off calendar.