Defense Motion Was Not Frivolous In Nature.
Though successful defendants are entitled to reasonable attorney’s fees for winning a SLAPP motion, they are not exposed to fees unless their motion is found to be frivolous in nature. That frivolousness test was not met in Mandurrago v. City of Carmel-By-The-Sea, Case No. H036488 (6th Dist. Jan. 23, 2012) (unpublished).
There, the appellate court reversed a trial court’s SLAPP grant, which resulted in a subsequent vacating of the grant and denial of the SLAPP fee. Plaintiff, apparently sensing blood in the water, moved to recover fees from the defense, a request denied by the trial court and prompting plaintiff’s appeal of the fee denial.
Fee denial affirmed. The defense motion, although unsuccessful, was not frivolous in nature. Plaintiff’s claims were not easy to categorize, and the appellate court had to engage in an earlier nuanced analysis in the prior appeal to distinguish the defense legal authorities. The frivolousness standard simply was not met in this one.
