$3,842 Fee Award Overturned.
Two well-known Orange County based law firms squared off in Catanzarite Law Corp. v. Gordon & Rees, LLP, Case No. G047968 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Oct. 15, 2013) (unpublished).
Plaintiff law firm accused defendant law firm of contractual interference after plaintiff’s former clients apparently did not pay plaintiff under a contingency fee agreement after settling with opposing parties represented by defendant law firm in several Los Angeles lawsuits. The lower court granted defendant Gordon & Rees’ anti-SLAPP motion and also awarded it attorney’s fees of $3,842 under the SLAPP fee-shifting statute.
The merits SLAPP grant was affirmed because (1) plaintiff had no evidence that defendant interfered, and (2) defendant law firm’s involvement in settlement negotiations on behalf of different clients was protected by the Civil Code section 47 litigation privilege.
Different result on the fee award. Gordon & Rees had chosen to represent itself in the SLAPP motion, which meant fees were not allowable under the Trope prohibition extended to the SLAPP context. (Taheri Law Group v. Evans, 160 Cal.App.4th 482, 494 (2008).) The appellate court overturned the fee award notwithstanding that plaintiff did not object to it on this ground below, with the reviewing court observing that it can review pure questions of law for the first time on appeal.
So, everyone got something in this 3-0 decision authored by Acting Presiding Justice Bedsworth.