Dhaliwal et al v. Singh et al

Filing 128

ORDER Re Defendants' Request For Attorney's Fees And Costs (Doc. 103 ), signed by District Judge Lawrence J. O'Neill on 9/18/2014. The Court finds that $350.00 per hour is a reasonable rate but that 3.5 hours is a reasonable amount of time here. Counsel for Defendants is therefore awarded $1,225.00 in attorneys fees and costs associated with bringing the motion to expunge.(Fahrney, E)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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JAGJEEVAN K. DHALIWAL AND
MOHINDER S. GILL,

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1:13-CV-484-LJO-SKO
ORDER RE DEFENDANTS’ REQUEST
FOR ATTORNEY’S FEES AND COSTS
(Doc. 103)

Plaintiffs,
v.
KS CHANDI & SONS, INC., et. al. ,
Defendants.

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On August 20, 2014, Defendants KS Chandi & Sons, Inc. and Chandi Brothers, LLC
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(collectively, “Defendants”) filed a motion to expunge lis pendens. Doc. 103. In their motion,
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Defendants requested an award of $6,650.00 for the attorney’s fees and costs associated with bringing
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the motion. Id. at 10. On September 16, 2014, the Court granted Defendants’ motion, but inadvertently
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failed to address Defendants’ request for attorney’s fees and costs. Doc. 124.
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Because the Court granted Defendants’ motion to expunge, the Court must award Defendants
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reasonable attorney’s fees and costs associated with bringing the motion unless Plaintiffs “acted with
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substantial justification [in filing the lis pendens] or that other circumstances make the imposition of
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attorney’s fees and costs unjust.” Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 405.38. Plaintiffs bear the burden of proving
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they acted with substantial justification. See Am. Nat’l Red Cross v. United Way Calif. Capital Region,
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No. CIV S-07-1236 WBS DAD, 2007 WL 4522967, at *7 (E.D. Cal. Dec. 19, 2007). “California cases
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have defined a ‘substantially justified’ position to mean one which is justified to a degree that would
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satisfy a reasonable person.” Wertin v. Franchise Tax Bd., 68 Cal.App.4th 961, 977 (1998).
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Defendants argue that Plaintiffs have not acted with substantial justification. Doc. 103-3 at 10. In
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their opposition to Defendants’ motion to expunge, Plaintiffs make no argument as to whether they acted

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with substantial justification in filing the lis pendens and refusing to withdraw it after Defendants’

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requests to do so. See Doc. 115 at 3. Plaintiffs therefore have failed to meet their burden of proving that

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they acted with substantial justification, and the Court cannot find circumstances that would make the

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imposition of attorney’s fees unjust here. Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 405.38.
Accordingly, Defendants are entitled to an award of attorney’s fees and costs. Counsel for

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Defendants requests $6,650.00 in attorney’s fees and costs for 19 hours expended at a rate of $350.00

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per hour. Doc. 103-2 at 3. Counsel claims he spent 14 hours in preparing the motion to expunge and

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anticipates spending an additional 5 hours responding to Plaintiffs’ opposition and attending the hearing

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The Court finds counsel for Defendants’ request to be wholly unreasonable. The Court recently

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12 granted the same counsel an award of attorney’s fees and costs for bringing a nearly identical motion to
13 expunge in a related case. See Doan v. Singh, 13-cv-531-LJO-SMS, Doc. 57 at 6. In that case, counsel
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Given counsel’s familiarity with the issues underlying the motion, the relative brevity of the

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17 parties’ pleadings, and the fact that the Court did not hold a hearing on the matter, the Court cannot find
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The Court finds that $350.00 per hour is a reasonable rate but that 3.5 hours is a reasonable

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24 IT IS SO ORDERED.
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Dated:

/s/ Lawrence J. O’Neill

September 18, 2014

UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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