Serrano

John L. Dodd & Associates, John L. Dodd; Chambers, Noronha & Kubota and Peter A. Noronha for Objector and Respondent.

At issue in Serrano v. Stefan Merli Plastering Co., Inc. (2008) 162 Cal.App.4th 1014 [ 76 Cal.Rptr.3d 559 ] ( Serrano I ) was a dispute about the reasonableness of fees a deposition reporter sought to charge a nonnoticing party for expedited copies. We held in Serrano I that the court in a pending action has the authority to (1) require a deposition reporter to provide a copy of a transcript to a nonnoticing party for a reasonable fee ( id. at p. 1035), and (2) determine the amount of the reasonable fee in the event of a dispute ( id. at p. 1038). We remanded the case to the trial court to determine whether the fee charged by the deposition reporter, Coast Court Reporters, Inc. (Coast), to plaintiffs Porfirio and Lourdes Serrano was unreasonable. On remand, the trial court ruled that the fee was unreasonable.

Thereafter, plaintiffs sought their attorney fees under the private attorney general statute, Code of Civil Procedure section 1021.5 (section 1021.5) from Coast. The trial court denied the fee request relying on the Supreme Court's decision in…