About $83,000 In Frivolous SLAPP Fees Affirmed On Appeal.
In Ibbetson v. Grant, Case Nos. G059067/G059352 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Dec. 7, 2021) (unpublished), the appellate court affirmed about an $83,000 attorney’s fees award in favor of plaintiffs for a frivolous SLAPP motion. [So, defendants, beware, you can get mandatory SLAPP fees if a trial judge determines the motion was frivolous.] However, for blogging purposes, we picked up on the defense argument that plaintiffs had not meet the CCP § 128.7 safe harbor provisions as far as making the fee request. The 4/3 DCA rejected this argument, agreeing with the 4/2 DCA analysis of this issue in Changsha Metro Group Co., Ltd. v. Xufeng, 57 Cal.App.5th 1, 19 (2020).