SLAPP: $24,175 In Attorney’s Fees Award Was No Abuse Of Discretion For A Litigant Successfully Striking A Defamation Cross-Claim

No Meet And Confer Requirement Under SLAPP Statute, With Cross-Complainant Not Dismissing The Cross-Complaint Until After The SLAPP Motion Was Filed.

            In Trinity Risk Management, LLC v. Simplified Labor Staffing Solutions, Inc., Case No. B297176 (2d Dist., Div. 8 Jan. 11, 2021 unpublished; published on Jan. 14, 2021), a cross-complainant—although indicating an intent to dismiss an extant cross-complaint—did not do so until after the opposing side filed a SLAPP motion directed against a defamation cross-claim.  The motion was granted, with the lower court then awarding the fully requested fees of $24,175 to the successful SLAPPing litigant.

            The merits and fee decisions were upheld on appeal.  There is no meet and confer requirement under the SLAPP statute to discuss the merits or amount of fees being requested.  Given the particular sequence of events where the cross-complaint was dismissed after the SLAPP motion was filed, appellant’s reliance on Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal, LLC v. City of Oakland, 54 Cal.App.5^th 738 (2020) [reviewed in our Sept. 17, 2020 post] was inapposite because the filing of the SLAPP motion, under the circumstances, was no “sharp practice.”