Claimed Hourly Rate Was Excessive As Well As The Request For Total Fee Recovery.
In Pecot v. Wong, Case No. A139566 (1st Dist., Div. 4 Jan. 18, 2018) (unpublished), defendants successfully moved to SLAPP six out of causes of action, then moving for mandatory attorney’s fees under CCP § 425.16. Defendants sought nearly $200,000 in fees, based on a $600/hourly rate and asking for a 2.0 positive multiplier on lodestar fees of $99,195.75 (representing about 159 in hours on the anti-SLAPP motion). The trial judge only awarded $20,000 after finding that $400 per hour was a reasonable hourly rate for SLAPP work and that 50 hours was more in line with the work effort for the SLAPP motion below.
The appellate court affirmed based on defendants not being able to surmount the formidable abuse of discretion review standard. The reviewing court found this case fairly akin to Maughan v. Google Technology, Inc., 143 Cal.App.4th 1242, 1248-1251, 1253 (2006), where a trial court slashed a $112,288.63 fee request to $23,000 (reducing claimed hours on the SLAPP motion from over 200 hours to 50 hours).