Nguyen

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiffs,1 who were tenants in a shopping center, brought a civil action for breach of contract against the entity managing the shopping center, defendant JMK Investments, Inc. (JMK Investments), and against the trustee of the trust that owned the shopping center, defendant John M. Kehriotis, individually and as trustee of the John M. Kehriotis and Nancy M. Kehriotis Living Trust dated March 25, 1993. Plaintiffs alleged that defendants improperly charged amounts under their lease agreements, including excessive management and landscaping fees. While the litigation was pending, defendants issued monetary credits to plaintiffs totaling at least $46,000. The parties

1 Plaintiffs in this action are Minh Tam Nguyen, Teresa T.H. Nguyen, Hung T. Lam, San Quang Bui, Suman Ramakumar, Nguyen Tran, Huong Ngoc Nguyen, Thao T. Pham, and MTM Seafood, Inc. eventually entered into a settlement in which defendants agreed to pay plaintiffs $22,500 to resolve the matter, with costs and attorney’s fees to be determined by the court. Plaintiffs subsequently filed a motion for more than $20,000 in costs and nearly $129,000 in attorney’s fees. Defendants opposed the motion. The trial…