SLAPP:  “Of Counsel” To Successful SLAPP Attorney Defendants Was Barred From Seeking SLAPP Fee Recovery For Clients Under Trope Case

4/1 DCA Accepted Rationale In Sands Decision.

            Trope v. Katz, 11 Cal.4^th 274, 277 (1995), our Leading Case No. 12, bars an attorney’s ability to recover for self-representation under Civil Code section 1717, which has also been extended to the SLAPP context.  (See, e.g., Ellis Law Group v. Nevada City Sugar Loaf Properties, LLC, 230 Cal.App.4^th 244, 253 (2014).)

            In Blackburn v. Herrick, Case No. D071043 (4^th Dist., Div. 1 Mar. 29, 2018) (unpublished), the 4/1 DCA decided that the trial court correctly denied fees to successful SLAPP defendant attorneys when they were represented by “of counsel,” endorsing the Second District’s bright-line rule to this effect enunciated in Sands & Associates v. Juknavorian, 209 Cal.App.4^th 1269, 1298 (2012),.

            On another issue, the appellate court also agreed with the lower court’s decision to reduce a second-year attorney’s hourly rate for SLAPP recovery purposes from $300 to $200 per hour.