Seriously, SLAPP: $8,050 SLAPP Fees Award Affirmed On Appeal To Prevailing Defendant

Counsel’s Declarations Alone Can Support Such An Award, Especially One Modest In Amount.

            This one falls in our SERIOUSLY category, a new one coined by Shanna Strader, who does do some great posts for this blog.

            In Wong v. Wong, Case No. A159009 (1^st Dist., Div. 5 Mar. 3, 2021) (unpublished), defendant partially struck some claims from a complaint through a SLAPP motion, with the trial judge awarding mandatory fees of $8,050.  That award was affirmed on appeal. 

            Defense counsel properly documented the time he spent on unsuccessfully striking some claims, excluding it from the fee submission calculus.  No billing records or retainer agreement is required to support a fee motion.  (G.R. v. Intelligator, 185 Cal.App.4^th 606, 620 (2010).). The lodestar based on 13.5 hours was found reasonable by both the lower and appellate court, resulting in the fee award being upheld upon review.