Requested 2.0 Multiplier Scaled Back to 1.4.
Just to show you how class action fee awards can often be larger than the damages awards in protracted, contentious cases, we now digest Alcoser v. Thomas, Case Nos. A124848 et al. (1st Dist., Div. 1 Feb. 16, 2011) (unpublished).
There, a tenant successfully won a case against a landlord about withholding rent deposits on behalf of a class. After post-trial motions, the total damages/interest award came to about $1.2 million. The lower court, noting landlord’s “scorched earth manner of defending the case,”
awarded plaintiffs $1,664,777.48 in attorney’s fees and costs, applying a 1.4 multiplier to the lodestar (a little lower than the 2.0 requested by plaintiffs).
Landlord’s challenges to the fee award were rejected on appeal, in a 3-0 opinion authored by Justice Dondero. CCP § 1021.5 allowed for recovery of fees in this class action context. Winning plaintiffs presented contemporaneous time records and task-based summaries, sufficient substantiation for fee petition purposes. The 1.4 multiplier was justified based on the “scorched earth” defense of landlord, among other factors.