ORDER Civil Rights Law §70-a(1)(a) provides that “costs and attorney’s fees shall be recovered” when, as here, the court grants a motion pursuant to CPLR 3211(g). This is a procedural rule (Brady v. NYP Holdings, Inc., 2022 WL 992631, at *11 [SDNY Mar. 31, 2022], citing La Liberte v. Reid, 966 F3d 79, 87 [2d Cir 2020]; see Zervos v. Trump, 171 AD3d 110, 130 [1st Dept 2019]). That other parts of the statute, such as §§70-a(1)(b) and 76- a(2), may be substantive does not change the nature of §70-a(1)(a)’s procedural fee-shifting rule. The statute’s application here is not impermissibly extraterritorial. Section 76-a(1) was amended to broadly define “action involving public petition and participation” to include “any lawsuit” in which the claim is based upon “any communication” of the sort set forth in the statute (Aristocrat Plastic Surgery, P.C. v. Silva, 206 AD3d 26, 29 [1st Dept 2022] [emphasis added]). Plaintiff is obligated to pay Di Meo’s fees is because it filed a baseless SLAPP suit in this court. Here, moreover, all of the claims asserted against Di Meo involved allegations implicating the anti-SLAPP statute, such as attempting to undermine the restructuring by, among other things, filing the Involuntary Petition and TRO (see Dkt. 1 at 47-55). Nonetheless, having carefully reviewed the billing records, the court agrees with plaintiff that the total amount sought — nearly $300,000 in fees and expenses (Dkt. 120 at 2-3; see Dkts. 121, 122) — is excessive (see Matter of Freeman, 34 NY2d 1, 9 [1974]). While the underlying facts and procedural issues were complex, and while the hourly rates of counsel are reasonable, having multiple attorneys bill more than 100 hours is still too much considering the work only began in March 2022. Additionally, while the bills are mostly itemized there is some block billing that warrant reductions. While the quality of the work and result achieved were excellent, it would be unreasonable to award the amount that was billed. A reasonable fee award would be $150,000 (see De Bernardo v. De Bernardo, 180 AD2d 500, 502 [1st Dept 1992]). Accordingly, it is ORDERED that plaintiff Moby S.p.A. shall pay $150,000 to counsel for defendant Antonello Di Meo within two weeks, and if payment has not been made by that time, the Clerk is directed to enter judgment in favor of Di Meo and against plaintiff in that amount and Di Meo may file a proposed judgment to the Clerk. Check One: X Case Disposed Non-Final Disposition Dated: September 8, 2022
