Homeport Insurance v. Weltin CA1/4

Filed 2/11/26 Homeport Insurance v. Weltin CA1/4

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION FOUR

HOMEPORT INSURANCE , Plaintiff and Appellant, A173086 v. PHILIP WELTIN, DANIEL (Alameda County WELTIN, AND WELTIN, Super. Ct. No. STREB & WELTIN LLP, 23CV041224) Defendants and Respondents.

Plaintiff Homeport Insurance appeals an order awarding attorney fees and costs (fee order) to Daniel Weltin, Philip Weltin, and Weltin, Streb & Weltin LLP (defendants) under the anti-SLAPP statute (Code Civ. Proc.,1 § 425.16, subd. (c)). Plaintiff’s main arguments are that the trial court erred in determining that defendants were the prevailing parties and abused its discretion with respect to the amount of attorney fees and costs awarded. In a separate appeal, Homeport Insurance v. McRae, et al. (December 31, 2025, A172243) [nonpub. opn.] (Homeport I), we affirmed the court’s order granting defendants’ anti-SLAPP motion. We now affirm the fee order.

1 All further statutory references are to the Code of Civil Procedure

unless otherwise indicated.

1

BACKGROUND2 Plaintiff filed a complaint alleging causes of action for conversion, a constructive trust, unjust enrichment, declaratory relief, and injunctive relief against defendants; plaintiff also named Veronica McRae as a defendant. Defendants appeared and filed an anti-SLAPP motion, which the trial court granted. Daniel Weltin then filed a motion for attorney fees and costs under section 425.16, subdivision (c), accompanied by an attorney declaration and supporting exhibits. He sought $55,992.61 for work on the anti-SLAPP motion, plus $14,000 for the attorney fees and costs motion, which he increased to $27,882 in his reply papers. Philip Weltin and Weltin, Streb & Weltin LLP filed a similar motion for attorney fees and costs, along with attorney declarations. They sought $90,147.57 for work on the anti-SLAPP motion, plus $22,125 for work on the attorney fees and costs motion. Plaintiff opposed both motions and submitted a declaration from an expert critiquing the costs, hourly rate and number of hours for which defendants sought compensation. With respect to the motion of Philip Weltin and Weltin, Streb & Weltin LLP, the court determined that a significant amount of the time claimed was for tasks unrelated to the anti-SLAPP motion and further found that the work billed on recoverable tasks was excessive. The court therefore reduced this attorney fees and costs request by approximately 50 percent, awarding $56,000 that the court found reasonable to compensate those defendants. With respect to Daniel Weltin, the court found that approximately 30 percent of the time billed by his counsel was either spent on matters