1ST UNITED CREDIT UNION vs GUTIERREZ-LABIAS, et al.

DISCUSSION Here, Plaintiff requested $11,753.50 in its motion which Defendants claim is unreasonable given that the Plaintiff faced virtually no opposition, Defendants had previously offered to settle, and 24CV099068: 1ST UNITED CREDIT UNION, A FEDERALLY INSURED STATE CHARTERED CREDIT UNION vs GUTIERREZ-LABIAS, et al. 07/08/2026 Hearing on Motion for Attorney Fees filed by 1ST UNITED CREDIT UNION, a Federally Insured State Chartered Credit Union (Plaintiff) CRS# 436791774018 in Department 5 Plaintiff easily obtained judgment.

In the Reply, Plaintiff offered to reduce its fee request to $8,579.00 All parties agreed that Plaintiff is entitled to reasonable attorney fees under the credit card agreement. (See Hill Savage Decl. ex. 1, p. 7, section 22; Opp. at p. 2.) The credit card agreement states: “22. COLLECTION COSTS - If We refer collection of Your Account to a lawyer who is not Our salaried employee, You are liable for any reasonable attorney's fees We incur, plus the costs and expenses of any legal action, as further disclosed on this Agreement, or to the extent allowed by law.” (Hill Savage Decl. ex. 1, p. 7, section 22.) “The trial court has broad discretion in deciding the amount of reasonable attorney fees to award pursuant to section 1717.

Trial courts typically use a lodestar calculation to determine the appropriate amount of attorney fees, multiplying the time reasonably spent by the reasonable hourly compensation for each attorney. The court may then adjust the award by taking into account additional factors such as the nature and difficulty of the litigation, the amount in controversy in the case, the skill required and employed in handling the case, and the success or failure of counsel. The trial court is in the best position to determine the value of services rendered during the trial over which it presided and, accordingly, we will not disturb the court's decision regarding the appropriate amount of reasonable attorney fees absent a clear abuse of discretion.” (Cavalry SPV I, LLC v.

Watkins (2019) 36 Cal.App.5th 1070, 1100–1101 [internal citations omitted].) Thus, the Court looks first to the lodestar calculation. Plaintiff supplies a declaration from Karel Rocha which states that the attorneys bill at a rate of $315 an hour and attaches detailed billing at exhibit A.

The complaint in the case was filed on November 12, 2024. Plaintiff’s detailed billing begins far earlier than that, in April of 2024, involving making calls and setting up the file, the complaint was drafted in November (1.5 hours), followed by several entries regarding communications involving service of Defendants and bankruptcy inquires over several hours, some discovery was exchanged (totaling roughly 20 hours hours), the summary judgment motion was drafted (over 7 hours), many entries of communications with the client, defendant, and the court, and drafting of the attorney fees motion (3 hours). In total Plaintiff’s detailed time entries note 55 hours of attorney time related to this case. (Rocha Decl. ex. A.)

The Court deems the excessive billing for communication regarding service, with the court, and regarding bankruptcy to be administrative tasks that should have been billed at lower rates or not billed at all. Further, spending nearly twenty hours of time on straightforward and likely unnecessary discovery amounts to aggressive litigation akin to bill padding. While the Court agrees that Plaintiff is entitled to reasonable attorneys’ fees, this case presents as a standard and straightforward limited civil collections case. Department Five presides over thousands upon thousands of such cases. There is nothing remarkable or unique to the instant case that would support such billing in the Court's view. Moreover, had the case proceeded to a judgment by way of default judgment as many limited civil collections cases do, the Court would allow only

SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF ALAMEDA

24CV099068: 1ST UNITED CREDIT UNION, A FEDERALLY INSURED STATE CHARTERED CREDIT UNION vs GUTIERREZ-LABIAS, et al. 07/08/2026 Hearing on Motion for Attorney Fees filed by 1ST UNITED CREDIT UNION, a Federally Insured State Chartered Credit Union (Plaintiff) CRS# 436791774018 in Department 5 'reasonable attorneys fees' as set forth and defined in Alameda Co. Local Rules, Appendix B 1(b): such fees under that structure for a case with an approximate $13,000 judgment would not exceed an estimated $ 2,881.58.

Here, considering all of the above-discussed issues and context, the Court finds the Plaintiff's detailed billing depicts excessive and unnecessary billing for which Defendants should not be liable.

ORDER Plaintiff’s request for attorney fees is GRANTED IN PART. The Court grants fees in the reduced amount of $2,835.00 (9 hours at $315/hour). Plaintiffs shall recover the above amount from Defendants Gloria Gutierrez-Labias and Abdon Suarez, jointly and severally, within ninety (90) days of this Order.

Clerk is directed to serve copies of this order, with proof of service, to counsel and to selfrepresented parties of record.

Reserved for Clerk’s File Stamp SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF ALAMEDA COURTHOUSE ADDRESS: Rene C. Davidson Courthouse 1225 Fallon Street, Oakland, CA 94612 PLAINTIFF/PETITIONER: 1ST UNITED CREDIT UNION, a Federally Insured State Chartered Credit Union DEFENDANT/RESPONDENT: GLORIA GUTIERREZ-LABIAS et al CASE NUMBER: CERTIFICATE OF ELECTRONIC SERVICE CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE 1010.6 24CV099068

I, the below named Executive Officer/Clerk of Court of the above-entitled court, do hereby certify that I am not a party to the cause herein, and that on this date I served one copy of the Tentative Ruling (Motion for Attorney Fees filed by 1ST UNITED CREDIT UNION, a Federally Insured State Chartered Credit Union (Plaintiff) CRS# ...) entered herein upon each party or counsel of record in the above entitled action, by electronically serving the document(s) from my place of business, in accordance with standard court practices.

Karel G Rocha Marco Acosta PRENOVOST, NORMANDIN, DAWE & ROCHA LAW OFFICES OF MARCO F. M. ACOSTA krocha@pnbd.com attorneymarco@gmail.com

Chad Finke, Executive Officer / Clerk of the Court Dated: 06/26/2026 By:

CERTIFICATE OF ELECTRONIC SERVICE CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE 1010.6