Fees Can Be Substantial–$47,036.45 In This One.
Roger Cleveland Golf Co., Inc. v. Krane & Smith, APC, Case Nos. B237424/B239375 (2d Dist., Div. 3 Apr. 15, 2014) (published) involved former attorneys SLAPPing a client in a malicious prosecution suit. Although having to decide whether a one or two year statute of limitations applied to the malicious prosecution suit (one basis for SLAPPing), the appellate court concluded that the showing of malice was insufficient such that the SLAPP award was upheld even though the lower court’s conclusion on the SOL issue was wrong. And, the natural consequences happened to be affirmance of the $47,036.45 in attorney’s fees to the winning attorneys given the nature of the mandatory SLAPP fee-shifting statute in favor of defendants.