RYAN T POINTER VS GENERAL MOTORS LLC

Tentative Rulings

Case Number: ****5912    Hearing Date: December 18, 2019    Dept: 48

MOTION FOR ATTORNEY’S FEES

MOVING PARTY: Plaintiff Ryan T. Pointer

RESPONDING PARTY(S): Defendant General Motors LLC

PROOF OF SERVICE:

• Correct Address: Yes.
• 16/21 (CCP ; 1005(b): OK. Served by personal service on November 22, 2019.

• DENY motion for costs without prejudice to Plaintiff seeking to recover such costs via a memorandum of costs, subject to a motion to tax/strike those costs.
• GRANT motion for attorney’s fees in the reduced amount of $38,000.00.

ANALYSIS

Request for Judicial Notice

Defendant’s request that the Court take judicial notice of court documents in other cases is DENIED as not relevant to the determination of this motion. The Court need only take judicial notice of relevant materials. Mangini v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (1994) 7 Cal.4th 1057, 1063. The Court may deny a request for judicial notice of material unnecessary to its decision. Rivera v. First DataBank, Inc. (2010) 187 Cal.App.4th 709, 713.

Defendant’s Evidentiary Objections

Declaration of Ryan T. Pointer

Nos. 1 – 3: SUSTAINED. Lack of foundation.

Motion for Attorneys’ Fees

Costs

Plaintiff must seek to recover costs by way of the memorandum of costs procedure. CRC Rule 3.1700(a)(1). Accordingly, the motion to recover $5,343.26 in costs and expenses is DENIED without prejudice to Plaintiff seeking to recover such costs via the memorandum of costs, subject to a motion to tax/strike those costs.

Attorney Fees

The parties settled this lawsuit, and Plaintiff now seeks an award of attorney’s fees in the amount of $42,830.00 plus a lodestar multiplier of 1.50 in the amount of $42,415.00 for a total of $64,245.00 in attorney’s fees.

Plaintiff brought causes of action pursuant to the Song-Beverly Act, Civil Code ; 1790, et seq.

Pursuant to the Settlement agreement, Plaintiff recovered $107,500.00 in exchange for return of the subject vehicle. Settlement Agreement, Motion, Exh. 3, Page 2, ¶ 2(b). Plaintiff is the prevailing buyer in this action.

The Court finds the hourly rates of $475/hour for a sole practitioner with Plaintiff’s counsel’s experience to be reasonable. Declaration of David N. Barry. ¶ 14. The Court also notes that there was some discovery law and motion after the Complaint was filed, and the parties attended mediation. On the other hand, the issues involved in this case were applicable to other consumers’ vehicles, thereby triggering economies of scale in terms of Plaintiff’s counsel’s efficiency in litigating this type of lemon law case. The Court has reviewed the billing records attached as Exh. 4 to the motion. The Court finds that, given the reduced $475/hour rate, the reasonable amount of attorney’s fees incurred in this action is $38,000.00.

The Court declines to apply any multiplier.

The motion for attorney’s fees is GRANTED in the reduced amount of $38,000.00.