SLAPP: $44,890 Mandatory Fee Award To Defendants Affirmed On Appeal Due To Failure To Explicitly Show Error In Briefing

Defendants Had Sought $50,190.

            In Breeze v. Baer, Case Nos. D073898/D074381 (4^th Dist., Div. 1 Dec. 12, 2019) (unpublished), defendants won a SLAPP motion—affirmed on appeal—and a subsequent fee award of $44,890 (out of a requested $50,190).  The fee award was affirmed on appeal, too.  Appellant challenged the hourly rates as excessive and argued that some of defendants’ requested work was unrelated to the SLAPP motion itself.  Those contentions were rejected because appellant failed to explicitly point out citations supporting the arguments, with the appellate court not required to cull a voluminous record to make the argument for appellant.