SLAPP: $43,000 Out Of Requested $66,750 In Fees Was Awarded Because The Defense Brought A Frivolous SLAPP Motion

Hourly Rate For One Attorney And Hearing Appearance Work Was Reduced.

            Defendants, in bringing SLAPP motions, do not get a “pass the jail/wild card.”  If a defense motion is frivolous, then the plaintiff can move to recover attorney’s fees for successfully opposing the SLAPP motion.  That is what occurred in Lora v. Parter Medical Products, Inc., Case No. B304027 (2d Dist., Div. 4 Dec. 17, 2020) (unpublished).

            After a SLAPP motion was found to be frivolous (a determination upheld on appeal), plaintiff moved for $66,750 in attorney’s fees, recovering $43,000 after reduction of one attorney’s hourly rate from $750 to $500 and after reduction for appearance at hearings from seven to four hours.  The appellate court sustained the result, determining that 86 hours at the rate of $500 per hour was a fair compensation—in line with what the lower court decided.