Deadlines, SLAPP: Lower Court Erred In Not Adjudicating Merits Of SLAPP Motion In Dismissed Case And Then Determining If Attorney’s Fees Were Warranted

Renewed Fee Motion Was Timely, Where Original Fee Motion Was Filed Within Deadlines.

               In Shih v. Max, Case No. B324437 (2d Dist., Div. 1 Apr. 29, 2024) (unpublished), lower court denied two defendants’ SLAPP fee motions as moot after plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed their complaint before the SLAPP motion could be heard, although there were various procedural and stay nuances in effect during the entire case—with the original fee motion stayed pending an appellate determination on defendants’ successful summary judgment motion.  After the appellate court affirmed a summary judgment in defendants’ favor, defendants re-noticed their SLAPP fee motion, which was denied without explanation by the lower court.

               The 2/1 DCA reversed and remanded.  It initially determined the renewed fee motion was not time barred because it was a renewal of a timely filed fee motion.  (In re Marriage of Perow & Uzelac, 31 Cal.App.5^th 984, 992 (2019).)   With the procedural issue out of the way, the appellate panel concluded that the trial judge had to adjudicate whether the SLAPP motion had merit and, if it did, decide the reasonable fees to be awarded to the defense.  (Pfeiffer Venice Properties v. Bernard, 101 Cal.App.4^th 211, 218-219 (2002); Liu v. Moore, 69 Cal.App.4^th 745, 751-752 (1999).)