Opinion
BK Case No. 99-40740, Adversary Case No. 99-6317, District Ct. Case No. CV-01-365-E-BLW.
October 1, 2002
MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER AWARDING ATTORNEY'S FEES
The Court has before it defendant-appellee J.R. Simplot Company's Petition for Attorney's Fees (Docket No. 18) and plaintiff-appellant Agricredit Acceptance, LLC's Motion for Review of Award of Costs and Fees (Docket No. 22).
In a Memorandum Decision and Order issued by this Court on March 28, 2002, the Court awarded costs and attorney's fees on appeal to J.R. Simplot Company. In its Petition for Attorney's Fees, J.R. Simplot states that the attorney's fees sought to be recovered were "necessarily incurred by Simplot to defend the appeal" and were "actually incurred . . . for representation on appeal." Simplot states that $12,192.50 in fees were generated defending the appeal. The Court has thoroughly reviewed the fees claimed by Simplot and the objections made by Agricredit. The Court's analysis of the fees is as follows.
The Court finds good cause to award the fees that are not disputed by Agricredit. Additionally, the Court dismisses Agricredit's claim that no costs or fees should be awarded to either side. The Court's April 19th Order Amending Memorandum Decision and Order of March 28, 2002 makes clear that Simplot is entitled to an award of attorney's fees.
Likewise, the Court rejects Agricredit's claim that the entries for 10/16/01, 10/22/01, 11/1/01-11/8/01, and 11/29/01 should be dismissed. These entries represent time spent preparing a motion to dismiss the appeal. While it is true that Simplot did not prevail on that motion, Simplot eventually prevailed on all counts of the appeal. The motion to dismiss is part and parcel to the entire appeal process. Thus, counsel's fees incurred in preparing the motion will be awarded.
Agricredit also objects to Simplot's practice of billing in quarter-hour segments. The Court finds that, while not as accurate as billing in one-tenth hour segments, billing in quarter-hour increments is not unreasonable. The attorneys fees will not be reduced for this billing structure.
However, many of the entries in Simplot's affidavit appear to be for work unrelated to the appeal. Only those fees generated for time actually spent preparing for the appeal will be awarded. The fees that the Court will not award are: Entry Hours Dollars
12/20/01 .5 $ 62.50 1/22/02 .75 $ 93.75 2/13/02 .25 $ 31.25 2/14/02 .25 $ 31.25 2/19/02 .5 $ 62.50 2/20/02, last entry of second listing .25 $ 31.25 3/1/02, both entries .5 $ 62.50 3/5/02 .5 $ 62.50 3/7/02 .25 $ 31.25 3/18/02, second entry .5 $ 62.50 ______________________________________________________________ Total 4.25 $ 531.25
Agricredit's Motion for Review of Award of Costs and Fees incorrectly lists this entry as "1/22/01."
Agricredit incorrectly listed this entry as "last entry of second 2/22/02 service." Instead, Agricredit must have been referring to the second February 20, 2002, entry. For a discussion on the first entry of the first listing for 2/20/02, see Footnote 3.
Thus, $531.25 will be excluded from the award of attorneys fees.
Despite Agricredit's objection, the Court is awarding fees for the following entries: 7/23/01, second entry; 8/8/01; 8/15/01, first entry; 8/15/01, first half of second listing, 8/23/01; 10/1/01; and 2/20/02. Additionally, the entry from 2/20/02 is awarded in full. Although a portion of this one hour was spent working on the appeal, the record indicates that the large majority of that time was spent working on the appeal.
An additional $84.67 is also excluded from the award of attorney's fees. The $84.67 is listed as the cost of lodging for a night in Boise on March 21, 2002; however, Simplot has not provided enough support to justify why this entry represents fees actually incurred in work on the appeal.
The Notice of Appeal in this case was not filed until June 26, 2001, yet Simplot, the Respondent, requests attorney's fees for dates as early as April 17, 2001. Upon review of the entries for the dates in question, the Court believes these entries do not represent time spent preparing for the appeal. $1,156.25 is excluded from Simplot's request for attorney's fees for this reason. The excluded fees are as follows:
Entry Hours Dollars
4/17/01 .5 $ 62.50 4/18/01 .25 $ 31.25 4/23/01 .25 $ 31.25 4/30/01 .25 $ 31.25 5/4/01 .25 $ 31.25 5/7/01 .75 $ 93.75 5/14/01 .5 $ 62.50 5/15/01 .25 $ 31.25 5/21/01 .25 $ 31.25 5/23/01 .25 $ 31.25 5/29/01 1.0 $ 125.00 5/31/01 1.25 $ 156.25 6/4/01 2.0 $ 250.00 6/5/01 .25 $ 31.25 6/18/01 .25 $ 31.25 6/20/01 1.0 $ 125.00 _________________________________________________________ Total 9.25 $ 1,156.25
Simplot was credited $1,500 of attorney's fees by its counsel on March 28, 2002. The Court will not reimburse Simplot for fees that it never had to pay. The $1,500 credit will also be deducted from the award of attorney's fees.
In summary, the Court will award $12,192.50 in attorney's fees less the exceptions noted above. The final calculation is thus: Entry Dollars
Agricredit's Petition $ 12,192.50 Attorneys Fees for Bankruptcy Proceedings ($ 531.25) Boise Lodging on 3/21/02 ($ 84.67) Attorneys Fees Prior to Notice of Appeal ($ 1,156.25) Credit to Simplot for Attorneys Fees ($ 1,500.00) _____________________________________________________________ Total $ 8,920.33
Agricredit also objects to $35 in fax fees. These have already been addressed in the Taxation of Costs (Docket No. 24).
The Court finds that the proper amount of attorney's fees to award is $8,920.33.
ORDER
NOW THEREFORE IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Simplot should receive $8,920.33 in attorneys fees.