Appellate Opinion Also Has Interesting Published Discussion on Tentative Ruling Acquiescence.
In Mundy v. Lenc, Case No. B227962 (2d Dist., Div. 2 Feb. 29, 2012) (certified for partial publication; fee discussion not published), disabled plaintiff/cross-defendant litigant and his attorney was hit with a $21,506.25 fee award for bringing a “frivolous” SLAPP motion. (NOTE TO READERS: Although there is case law indicating that a losing SLAPP plaintiff’s attorney is not liable for fees, the rule does not necessarily apply to a losing SLAPP defendant’s attorney bringing a frivolous motion–this is more like a sanction than simple fee-shifting.) However, the appellate court found that cross-defendant should have won some part of his SLAPP motion based on the litigation privilege. This meant that the fee award went POOF!; after all, the SLAPP motion had partial merit, so it could hardly be labeled as frivolous in nature. (Gerbosi v. Gaims, Weil, West & Epstein, LLP, 193 Cal.App.4th 435, 450 (2011).)
Slap Motion