SLAPP: Losing SLAPP Litigant Was Saddled With $49,896 In Attorney’s Fees When Defendants Prevailed On SLAPP Motion

Losing Party’s Expert Declaration Was Deficient, With The Trial Judge Allowed to Bring His/Her Experience When Deciding Reasonableness Of Fees.

            We have seen many of these challenges before as to reasonableness of attorney’s fees awards.  To have potential success, a losing party needs to rely on a competent expert having knowledge in the subject matter at issue and having knowledge about events in the litigation.  If not, the trial judge can dismiss the proffered expert opinion and make an award based on his or her experience in fee contests or knowledge about hourly rates/work of the parties in the case.

            That is what happened in Spielbauer Law Office v. Midland Funding, LLC, Case No. A165817 (1^st Dist., Div. 2 Mar. 23, 2023) (unpublished).  Plaintiff lost a SLAPP motion to defendants, which won a mandatory attorney’s fees award of $49,896 under the SLAPP fee-shifting statute.  Plaintiff’s main challenge on appeal was that the award was too excessive.  The problem for plaintiff was that its expert did not express his experience on SLAPP motions or indicate that he had familiarity with the litigation activities in the case.  That being said, the lower court drew on its own experience in awarding fees, which was no abuse of discretion given its involvement during the course of the lawsuit (and given that it can make such an evaluation without the necessity of expert testimony).  Fee award affirmed.