However, Trial Judge Did Not Abuse Discretion By Reducing Lodestar And Awarding No Multiplier–$145,747 Fee Recovery Affirmed.
In Keep Our Mountains Quiet v. County of Santa Clara, Case No. H039707 (6th Dist. May 7, 2015) (published), a plaintiff winning a CEQA case—with the lower court acknowledging a development project was invalid without an EIR—was awarded $145,747 under CCP § 1021.5, but short of the requested lodestar of $176,184.50 and an additionally requested 3.0 multiplier (a total request of $308,322.87). Both sides appealed the fee award, and both sides went away with no more relief.
Under CEQA, a winning plaintiff does confer a significant benefit when a court says an EIR needed to be conducted—this was not a “minute” blemish, but a significant win requiring proper environmental assessments. The general public, too, was served given that biological resources and public roadway safety are matters of general interest. Finally, the nonprofit plaintiff organization only obtained indirect financial awards, such that the financial costs/benefits favored an award.
That took the appellate court to the amount of the award. The problem here was that the record showed no abuse of discretion. Plaintiff believed that the trial court was wrong because it found the partial contingency arrangement did not allow for a multiplier, but the reviewing court found no support in the record for this notion.