$650 Hourly Rate For 15-Year Attorney And $450 For A Paralegal Were Found Reasonable In A Contentious Santa Clara County Case.
Two neighbors had very bad experiences with each other, with one neighbor obtaining a civil harassment restraining order (CHRO) and being awarded $33,712.91 in prevailing party attorney’s fees under CCP § 527.6 against the other neighbor. The merits of the CHRO determination and the fee award was affirmed on appeal in Vo v. Le, Case No. H051626 (6th Dist. Jan. 27, 2026; posted Jan. 28, 2026) (unpublished).
The principal challenge was to the trial court’s award of $650 hourly rate fees to a 15- year experienced attorney and of $450 to a paralegal in a complicated civil harassment case which was venued in Santa Clara County Superior Court. The lower court found the rates reasonable based on the complicated nature of the case and the contentiousness of the parties. The attorney’s fees papers included declarations by the applicant attorney about prevailing fees based on the applicant being an attorney in the venue, augmented by prior awards where the same attorney received $550 per hour in 2021 and $450 in 2013. This type of declaration testimony is satisfactory evidence of prevailing market rates in the community (Heritage Park Financial, LLC v. Monroy, 215 Cal.App.4th 972, 1009 (2013)), with the appellate court finding there was no abuse of discretion in awarding these rates by the lower court. As an aside, the lower court did reduce the requested fees by $5,250 for duplication and unnecessary work by the paralegal and for expert consultation work.