Opinion
No. 8:01CV308
November 14, 2002
ORDER
This matter is before the court pursuant to my Memorandum and Order dated October 28, 2002, wherein I granted plaintiffs' request for a declaratory judgment and gave the plaintiff seven days to file a request for attorney fees and the defendant seven days to respond to the request for attorney fees. Filing No. 54. The plaintiffs have requested attorney fees, Filing No. 55, and the defendant has responded, Filing No. 56.
Pursuant to Neb. Rev. Stat. § 44-359, the plaintiff has requested fees in this case. The plaintiff's counsel, Jeffrey Silver, has requested an hourly rate of $175.00, has requested compensation for a total of 86.4 hours, and has requested a total of $15,120.00 in attorney fees. Defendant TIG has responded indicating that the hourly rate and hours expended are both fair and reasonable under the circumstances.
I have carefully reviewed the request for fees. The factors to be considered in making an award under § 44-359 include the nature of the litigation, the time and labor required, the novelty and difficulty of the issues, the skill to handle the case, the result of the suit, and the customary charges for similar cases. See National Am. Ins. Co. v. Continental Western Ins. Co., 502 N.W.2d 817, 825 (Neb. 1993). This case required a substantial amount of briefing of the factual and legal issues. Further, because TIG refused to defend the plaintiffs, substantial skill was required to handle the case. Additionally, plaintiffs will have judgment entered in their favor. Considering the amount of time expended for preparation and submission of the motion for summary judgment and for preparation of the documents submitted prior to the trial, I conclude that the amount of time expended by Mr. Silver is reasonable. Further, I am familiar with the hourly rates charged in Nebraska by litigators with 27 years of experience. Given the experience of counsel, the complexity of the suit, and the result, I conclude that the requested hourly rate of $175.00 is reasonable.
THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that plaintiffs are hereby awarded attorney fees in the amount of $15,120.00. A separate judgment shall be entered herein.