Opinion
Civil Action No. 11-cv-02872-JLK
01-30-2012
ELIZABETH FEDER, Plaintiff, v. MIDLAND CREDIT MANAGEMENT, INC., a Kansas corporation, Defendant.
Judge John L. Kane
ORDER ON MOTION FOR ATTORNEY FEES (Doc. 8)
Kane, J.
This case is before me on Plaintiff's Motion for Attorney Fees. On a $1,001 recovery on behalf of his client under Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1692 et seq., counsel invokes the FDCPA's fee shifting provision and seeks an award of $3,570 for 11.9 hours of work at a rate of $300 per hour. I grant the Motion, but reduce the fee in accord with the following lodestar analysis:
An fee award in excess of the amount recovered for a client under the FDCPA is not unreasonable per se because the award is based on a remedial statute whose primary consideration is to favor a claimant's access to the courts. In other words, a remedial statute is not limited to the collection of actual damages, but extends to the stated public policy of curtailing what Congress deems to be unfair debt collection practices.
Based on my review of the parties' briefs and the attached affidavits and other statements, I find the reasonable hourly rate in this district for attorneys with comparable skill and experience in FDCPA cases is $250 per hour. Also based on this review, I find the listing of hours expended by counsel is excessive and includes items that are purely administrative/secretarial in nature. The reasonably expended attorney hours expended in this case is eight hours. Accordingly, the reasonable attorney fee to be awarded Plaintiff in this case is 8 x $250 ($2,000) which shall be added to the current Judgment of $1,000 plus costs.
John L. Kane
SENIOR U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE