Hours Reduced Mainly On Requested Hourly Rate And For Unrelated SLAPP Work.
In Ocean’s Eleven Casino v. Anders, Case No. D067343 (4th Dist., Div. 1 June 3, 2016) (unpublished), an in pro per plaintiff obtained a reversal of a SLAPP denial in a prior appeal (retaining an attorney on the eve of oral argument in the prior appeal), which meant the plaintiff could seek fees. He then had several attorneys work on the mandatory SLAPP fee motion, seeking $144,616.25 in fees. The lower court awarded $60,477 instead, prompting an appeal.
The fee award was affirmed. The appellate court affirmed the two principal conclusions of the trial court: (1) reducing hourly rates, especially the $600 rate requested by the lead attorney, because $200-$300 was found to be the norm for fee application rates in the North San Diego County Superior Court venue; and (2) many hours of requested work related to non-SLAPP work, with the SLAPP fee case law having a causality requirement that the work be related to SLAPP-oriented tasks.
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