Song-beverly Consumer Warranty Act Attorneys Fees

A prevailing buyer in a lawsuit under the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act is entitled to recover reasonable attorney fees. (Civ. Code, 1794, subd. (d) "If the buyer prevails in an action under this section, the buyer shall be allowed by the court to recover as part of the judgment a sum equal to the aggregate amount of costs and expenses, including attorney's fees based on actual time expended, determined by the court to have been reasonably incurred by the buyer in connection with the commencement and prosecution of such action.") Pursuant to Civil Code section 1794, subdivision (d), a trial court is required to make an initial determination of the actual time expended by counsel, and then ascertain whether, under all of the facts, the amount of actual time expended and the monetary charges made are reasonable. See: Nightingale v. Hyundai Motor American (1994) 31 Cal.App.4th 99, 104 "If the time expended or the monetary charge being made for the time expended are not reasonable under all the circumstances, then the court must take this into account and award attorney fees in a lesser amount"; Levy v. Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. (1992) 4 Cal.App.4th 807, 815-816 concluding a person seeking an award of attorney fees under section 1794, subdivision (d), of the Civil Code "'is not necessarily entitled to compensation for the value of attorney services according to his or her own notion or to the full extent claimed by him or her. . . .'"; Meister v. Regents of University of California (1998) 67 Cal.App.4th 437 at p. 452 concluding trial court's reduction of attorney fees award for plaintiff from over $ 500,000 to approximately $ 75,500 was proper under the Information Practices Act of 1977 (Civ. Code, 1798 et seq.) based on trial court's determination that time spent on the case after plaintiff rejected defendants' settlement offer was not reasonable because "attorney time spent on services which produce no tangible benefit for the client is not time 'reasonably spent,'" and concluding a trial court's determination of the amount of a reasonable attorney fees award "is necessarily ad hoc and must be resolved on the particular circumstances of each case".)