However, On Appeal, Appellate Court Found Neither Side Prevailed So As To Get Appellate Fee Recovery.
Becerra v. Jones, Bell, Abbott, Fleming & Fitzgerald LLP, Case No. B251189 (2d Dist., Div. 8 Feb. 27, 2015) (unpublished) involved a situation where plaintiff ex-partner sued his former firm, with the firm SLAPPing one cause of action for intentional interference with prospective business advantage but unsuccessfully SLAPPing plaintiff’s unfair competition claim. However, the lower court awarded the firm $27,820 in fees (the entire request) and $40 in costs for court hearing parking expenses. Both sides appealed.
The appellate court affirmed the fee award, determining that (1) the lower court was not required to issue a statement of decision in connection with the award, (2) firm achieved a significant benefit from the SLAPP grant, (3) the motion was supported with adequate contemporaneous time records, and (4) no allocation of work on the two claims involved in the SLAPP proceeding was necessary because they were based on the same premise. However, the $40 in costs was stricken because parking fees are not routine costs unless incurred for deposition attendance, with local court appearance parking not covered.
Then, the appellate court addressed requests for appellate costs by both sides. Given that this was a “split” decision because the merits of the SLAPP grant and denial were affirmed, no one prevailed on a magnitude to be entitled to recovery of appeal fees.