Postle Case Concludes with Fees but No Fanfare
It seems as if the Mike Postle case – the third and probably final one – is over, for all intents and purposes.
The judge resolved the last pending issue in the case of Mike Postle versus So Many Defendants this week. Postle filled the lead-up to that final hearing with complaining documents and irrelevant issues, all in the form of supplemental briefs to the court. He appeared to want to fight to the very end, submitting written attacks primarily focused on defendant Veronica Brill and her attorney, Marc Randazza.
However, when it came time for the final hearing on June 16, Postle didn’t appear. He informed the court that he would not appear. That allowed the judge’s minute order to take effect.
That ruling ordered Postle to pay $27,745 to Brill for her legal fees and costs. Combine that with the $26,982 that the court previously ordered Postle to pay Todd Witteles for his legal fees and costs, and the total due is $54,727.
The old saying is that you can’t squeeze blood from a turnip. That seems to apply here. Nevertheless, a win – for Brill and Witteles – if only in principle, is still a win.
Reasonable Fees
In the same manner in which Witteles won his anti-SLAPP motion against Postle, Brill won hers. Since Postle dismissed all actions against all of his defendants, the previously-filed anti-SLAPP motions were automatically winners.
In April, Brill filed a motion to recover costs and attorney fees related to the case. The filing detailed the fees accumulated mostly in relation to services provided by attorney Marc Randazza. While Brill’s costs came to $961.61, her bills from Randazza totaled between $67,677.50 and $77,677.50. (The difference pertained to an extra $10K if Postle filed an opposition to the motion.)
Judge Shama Mesiwala issued a minute order on the afternoon of July 16. Since Brill’s anti-SLAPP motion went unopposed and Postle dropped the case, Brill won. However, Judge Mesiwala determined that the requested fees were “excessive.” She explained:
“For example, there are multiple entries totaling 33.5 hours for drafting a memorandum regarding the initial draft of the anti-SLAPP motion. The court awards 15 hours at $800 for Mr. Randazza; 25 hours at $450 an hour for Mr. Shepard; and 20 hours of paralegal time at the rate of $175 per hour.”
With that, Brill won her $961.91 in costs and only $26,783.50 in attorney fees, less than half of what she had requested. The total due to Brill from Postle came to $27,745.
No Blood in That Turnip
One might think that a person like Mike Postle who won so much money playing poker – with his self-professed, insanely strong poker skills and all – would have money in the bank to pay the fees incurred by way of his own abandoned lawsuit.
This is not likely the case. A quick search in the Superior Court of California, County of Sacramento, brought up two lawsuits against Postle.
Wells Fargo Bank sued Postle in September 2020 to collect a debt in the amount of $7,592.00. He never responded to the court at all, so they issued a default judgment against him that included attorney and court fees. The default judgment against Postle is $8,682.00.
In January 2021, Discover Bank went to court to collect funds in the amount of $5,018.81. To date, Postle has not responded to the filing, at least per the latest documents available.
All of this is to say that the court has mandated Postle pay more than $13K in debts, but he hasn’t even engaged the matters. Trying to get $54,528.50 from him for these two anti-SLAPP rulings may be difficult at best.
i 100% agree
— Veronica Brill (@Angry_Polak) June 9, 2021
