Opinion
Civil No. 2008-91.
August 12, 2009
Ashlee M. Gray, Esq., St. Thomas, U.S.V.I., For the plaintiff. Jasmine Connor, Pro se defendant.
ORDER
The plaintiff, FirstBank Puerto Rico ("FirstBank"), commenced this debt and foreclosure action in June 2008 against the pro se defendant, Jasmine Connor. In July 2008, the Clerk of Court entered default against Connor. In September 2008, FirstBank sought default judgment against Connor. In October 2008, the Court denied that motion. In December 2008, FirstBank moved again for default judgment. In May 2009, the Court granted that motion and entered default judgment in favor of FirstBank and against Connor. FirstBank now seeks an award of attorney's fees in the amount of $6,490.50 and costs in the amount of $209. In support of its fee and cost petition, FirstBank has submitted the affidavit of one of its attorneys as well as a report detailing its claimed fees and costs.
The Virgin Islands Code provides for the recovery of attorney's fees and costs:
(1) Fees of officers, witnesses, and jurors;
(2) Necessary expenses of taking depositions which were reasonably necessary in the action;
(3) Expenses of publication of the summons or notices, and the postage when they are served by mail;
(4) Compensation of a master as provided in Rule 53 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure;
(5) Necessary expense of copying any public record, book, or document used as evidence in the trial; and
(6) Attorney's fees as provided in subsection (b) of this section.
V.I. CODE ANN. tit. 5, § 541(a). The statute further provides that "there shall be allowed to the prevailing party in the judgment such sums as the court in its discretion may fix by way of indemnity for his attorney's fees in maintaining the action or defenses thereto. . . ." Id. at (b).
To determine a fair and reasonable award of attorney's fees, the Court considers factors including the time and labor involved, skill required, customary charges for similar services, benefits obtained from the service and the certainty of compensation. Lempert v. Singer, 29 V.I. 169, 172-73 (D.V.I. 1993) (citation omitted); see also Morcher v. Nash, 32 F. Supp. 2d 239, 241 (D.V.I. 1998). Reasonable attorney's fees may include charges for work that was "useful and of a type ordinarily necessary to secure the final result obtained from the litigation." Pennsylvania v. Delaware Valley Citizens' Council for Clean Air, 478 U.S. 546, 561 (1986); see also Gulfstream III Associates, Inc. v. Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., 995 F.2d 414, 420 (3d Cir. 1993) (noting that reasonable attorney's fees may include charges for measures necessary to enforce district court judgments as well as other charges "reasonably expended" to advance the litigation).
Applying the standards outlined above, the Court finds that very little of the attorney's fees and costs claimed by FirstBank was reasonably expended.
For instance, FirstBank requests reimbursement for work that was billed excessively or repeatedly. The Court will exclude those entries in its assessment of reasonable fees. See, e.g., Gulfstream III Assocs., Inc., 995 F.2d at 422 (noting a "district court's power to reduce the fee award by excluding time as excessive [or] duplicative. . . ."); Equivest St. Thomas, Inc. v. Virgin Islands, 46 V.I. 447, 454 (D.V.I. 2004) (reducing a fee award where there was some "duplication of effort").
FirstBank also seeks indemnification for conferences and communications between its own attorneys and legal staff. Such expenses are duplicative and are not to be included in an assessment of reasonable fees. See Morcher, 32 F. Supp. 2d at 241 ("Multiple lawyer conferences, not involving opposing counsel . . . involve duplicative work."); see also, e.g., Staples v. Ruyter Bay Land Partners, LLC, Civ. No. 2005-11, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9359, at *5 (D.V.I. Feb. 6, 2008).
Furthermore, this matter involved garden-variety debt and foreclosure claims and was disposed of at the default judgment stage, and thus without opposition from Connor. The issues were not novel, but rather "relatively commonplace." See Good Timez, Inc. v. Phoenix Fire Marine Ins. Co., 754 F. Supp. 459, 463 (D.V.I. 1991) ("In computing what is a reasonable award of attorney's fees in a particular case, the court should consider, among other things, the novelty and complexity of the issues presented in that case." (citing Lindy Bros. Builders v. American Radiator Standard Sanitary Corp., 487 F.2d 161, 168 (3d Cir. 1973)). Consequently, the Court will reduce the fee award to reflect those facts. See Home Depot, U.S.A. v. Bohlke Int'l Airways, Civ. No. 1998-102, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6935, at *1-2 (D.V.I. Apr. 30, 2001) ("The decision whether to award attorney's fees to a prevailing party is entirely within the Court's discretion." (citation omitted)).
For the reasons given above, it is hereby ORDERED that Connor shall be liable to FirstBank for attorney's fees and costs in the amount of $1,000.