First District, Division 3 Reverses Fee Award.
As we have seen in cases reviewed in our category “SLAPP,” prevailing defendants on SLAPP motions are entitled to mandatory reasonable attorney’s fees. However, plaintiffs can get them if the court finds that the defendant’s SLAPP motion was frivolous or intended for dilatory purposes. Code Civ. Proc., § 425.16(c).
Terrell v. Dillingham & Murphy Case No. A125307 (1st Dist., Div. 3 Dec. 24, 2009) (unpublished) involved a situation where plaintiff defeated a SLAPP motion brought by defendants in a malicious prosecution action and was awarded fees under the second fee granting component of section 425.16(c). However, the appellate court reversed the SLAPP denial, contending the motion should have been granted. With the reversal of the merits, so, too, went POOF! the fees award. That award was reversed in a short decision in Case No. A125307.