First District, Division 5 Also Awards 1.2 Multiplier For Anti-SLAPP Lodestar Motion Work.
The next case illustrates that, in the right situation, a trial court will even award a multiplier on anti-SLAPP motion work performed by a successful cross-defendant.
In Ortega v. Morales, Case No. A120684 (1st Dist., Div. 5 Mar. 25, 2009) (unpublished), cross-defendant won an anti-SLAPP motion in which certain defamation claims arising out of a massage room dispute were dismissed. Winning cross-defendant sought to recovery $57,185 for fees and costs incurred in connection with the anti-SLAPP motion, an opposition to the opponent’s motion for relief, and “fees on fees”, to be adjusted upward by a multiplier of 1.5. Eventually, the trial court awarded cross-defendant fees and costs of $48,692, allowing a 1.2 multiplier for work on the anti-SLAPP motion segment after reducing anti-SLAPP hours by 10% across the board.
On appeal, the trial court’s decision was affirmed. The ultimate award was $15,000 less than the 1.5-multiplier-adjusted amount requested by cross-defendant. Cross-complainant only specifically challenged $385 in fees, which were actually waived by cross-defendant. (Good move, we might say.) Cross-complainant’s plea that he could never pay this amount fell on deaf ears—no abuse of discretion was committed by the lower court in rejecting the poverty plea. (Yet, again, our Blog Mission Statement comes to haunt—be careful how you litigate and what fee exposure exists; if you lose, it could be a financial disaster in that you owe your attorney as well as fees incurred by your opponent.)