On 08/07/2017 AMERICAN CONTRACTORS INDEMNITY COMPANY filed a Contract - Other Contract lawsuit against MEIR LEVI. This case was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Courts, Stanley Mosk Courthouse located in Los Angeles, California. The Judges overseeing this case are DALILA CORRAL LYONS and EDWARD B. MORETON. The case status is Pending - Other Pending.
****1306
08/07/2017
Pending - Other Pending
Los Angeles County Superior Courts
Stanley Mosk Courthouse
Los Angeles, California
DALILA CORRAL LYONS
EDWARD B. MORETON
AMERICAN CONTRACTORS INDEMNITY COMPANY
DOES 1 TO 150
LEVI MEIR
WESTERN GROUP INC
WESTERN GROUP INC.
STEVENSON TRACY A. ESQ.
STONE ELLIOTT
7/11/2018: SEPARATE STATEMENT OF UNDISPUTED FACTS IN SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR SUMMARY ADJUDICATION
7/11/2018: DECLARATION OF TRACY A. STEVENSON IN SUPPORT OF AMERICAN CONTRACTORS INDEMNITY COMPANY'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY ADJUDICATION
1/3/2019: Proof of Service (not Summons and Complaint)
1/4/2019: Minute Order
1/11/2019: Opposition
1/14/2019: Declaration
1/14/2019: Declaration
2/4/2019: Unknown
3/12/2019: Proof of Service (not Summons and Complaint)
6/11/2019: Notice
6/13/2019: Request
9/25/2017: ANSWER TO COMPLAINT
11/7/2017: Minute Order
10/19/2017: Unknown
9/25/2017: ANSWER TO COMPLAINT
8/23/2017: ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE HEARING
8/7/2017: SUMMONS
Memorandum of Points & Authorities; Filed by American Contractors Indemnity Company, (Plaintiff)
Proof of Service (not Summons and Complaint); Filed by American Contractors Indemnity Company, (Plaintiff)
Exhibit List; Filed by American Contractors Indemnity Company, (Plaintiff)
Notice of Application and Hearing for Writ of Attachment (CCP 484.040); Filed by American Contractors Indemnity Company, (Plaintiff)
Declaration ( of Patrick Laverty in support of American Contractors Indemnity Company's Application for Right to Attach Order and Order for Issuance of Writ of Attachment); Filed by American Contractors Indemnity Company, (Plaintiff)
Declaration (of Tracy A. Stevenson in support of American Contractors Indemnity Company's Application for Right to Attach Order and Order for Issuance of Writ of Attachment); Filed by American Contractors Indemnity Company, (Plaintiff)
Application for Right to Attach Order, Temporary Protective Order, etc.; Filed by American Contractors Indemnity Company, (Plaintiff)
Request (To Continue Status Conference); Filed by American Contractors Indemnity Company, (Plaintiff)
at 10:47 AM in Department 20, Dalila Corral Lyons, Presiding; Court Order
Certificate of Mailing for (Minute Order (COURT ORDER - REGARDING ADVANCEMENT OF HEARING:) of 06/11/2019); Filed by Clerk
PROOF OF SERVICE OF SUMMONS
PROOF OF SERVICE OF SUMMONS
Proof-Service/Summons
ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE HEARING
NOTICE OF CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE
OSC-Failure to File Proof of Serv; Filed by Clerk
Notice of Case Management Conference; Filed by Clerk
AMERICAN CONTRACTORS INDEMNITY COMPANY'S COMPLAINT FOR: 1. BREACH OF CONTRACT; ETC
SUMMONS
Complaint; Filed by American Contractors Indemnity Company, (Plaintiff)
Case Number: BC671306 Hearing Date: November 20, 2019 Dept: 20
Tentative Ruling
Judge Dalila C. Lyons
Department 20
Hearing Date: Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Case Name: American Contractors Indemnity Company v. Meir Levi, et al.
Case No.: BC671306
Motion: Motion for Attorney Fees and Costs
Moving Party: Plaintiff American Contractors Indemnity Company
Responding Party: *UNOPPOSED*
Notice: OK
Ruling: Plaintiff American Contractors Indemnity Company’s motion for 40,013.32 in attorney fees and $1,413.34 in costs against defendant Meir Levi is GRANTED.
Moving party to give notice.
On August 26, 2019, the Court granted Plaintiff’s unopposed motion for summary adjudication of the Frist Cause of Action against defendant Meir Levi (Levi). On August 26, 2019, Plaintiff dismissed Western and the Doe Defendants. On October 15, 2019, the Court entered judgment for Plaintiff and against Levi and ordered that attorney's fees and costs should be determined by noticed motion and memorandum of costs as provided by law. Subsequently this motion was filed and on October 23, 2019 plaintiff filed its memorandum of costs requesting $1,413.34 in costs.
Plaintiff moves to recover $40,013.32 in attorney fees and $1,413.34 in costs from Levi pursuant to the contractual provisions of the GIA. Plaintiff was the prevailing party and judgment was entered for Plaintiff.
No opposition to this motion was filed.
ANALYSIS
“Except as attorney's fees are specifically provided for by statute, the measure and mode of compensation of attorneys and counselors at law is left to the agreement, express or implied, of the parties; but parties to actions or proceedings are entitled to their costs, as hereinafter provided.” CCP § 1021. Attorneys’ fees are allowable costs when authorized by contract, statute, or the law. CCP § 1033.5(a)(10).
“[T]he
starting point of every fee award…must be a calculation of the attorney's
services in terms of the time he has expended on the case. Anchoring the analysis to this concept is the
only way of approaching the problem that can claim objectivity, a claim which
is obviously vital to the prestige of the bar and the courts.” In re Vitamin Cases (2003) 110 Cal. App. 4th 1041, 1058
(quoting Press v. Lucky Stores,
Inc. (1983) 34 Cal.3d 311,
322). “[T]he primary method for establishing
the amount of ‘reasonable’ attorney fees is the lodestar method. The lodestar
(or touchstone) is produced by multiplying the number of hours reasonably
expended by counsel by a reasonable hourly rate.” Thayer v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
(2001) 92
Levi failed to oppose this motion. Premier Medical Management Systems, Inc. v. California Insurance Guarantee Association (2008) 163 Cal.App.4th 550, 560 (emphasizing that opposing parties “submitted no evidence that the hours claimed by counsel were excessive,” and declining to “declare as a matter of law that the hours were unreasonable”); Villanueva v. City of Colton (2008) 160 Cal.App.4th 1188, 1204 (opposing party “offered no evidence of any kind which might have warranted a reduced fee award.”).
Here, ACIC is the prevailing party and is entitled to attorneys' fees and costs pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure §§1032 and 1033.5 and Civil Code 18 § 1717. The Court has reviewed Plaintiff’s time records and affidavits filed in support of this motion and finds the hourly rate of counsel to be reasonable and the time expended on the matter and the billing to be reasonable. Stevenson Decl., Exh. B; Laverty Decl., Exh. B. Plaintiff has met its burden to provide substantial evidence of the attorney fees reasonably incurred by providing not only affidavits of counsel but also time records for the two years of this litigation. In contrast, Levi has failed to provide any evidence or argument that Plaintiff’s counsel’s fees are not unreasonable. Plaintiff’s unopposed request for $40,013.32 in attorney fees and $1,413.34 in costs is reasonable.
Accordingly, Plaintiff’s motion for $40,013.32 in attorney fees and $1,413.34 in costs is GRANTED.