What evidence does the court need to consider before awarding fees to a private law firm?

Generally, "[t]he most analogous evidence to fees charged by a private law firm would be fees sought and deemed reasonable by courts in other cases." (Margolin v. Regional Planning Com. (1982) 134 Cal.App.3d 999, 1005, fn. omitted.) Even where such evidence may be admitted, however, a court need not rely on those previously approved rates in making a fee award. (See id. at p. 1006.) In Margolin, the appellate court affirmed the trial court, which chose not to follow the rates set in other cases, instead "'assign[ing] to each [attorney] an hourly rate which, in the court's mind, is a fair equivalent of those rates charged by comparable law firms for the work of similarly situated partners, associates and lay experts." (Ibid.)