Haw. Masons' Pension Fund v. Taufatofua

Full title: HAWAII MASONS' PENSION FUND, ET AL., Plaintiffs, v. SIONE TAUFATOFUA, ET…

Court: UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF HAWAII

Date published: Mar 20, 2017

CIVIL NO. 16-00087 JMS-KSC (D. Haw. Mar. 20, 2017)

Opinion

CIVIL NO. 16-00087 JMS-KSC

03-20-2017

HAWAII MASONS' PENSION FUND, ET AL., Plaintiffs, v. SIONE TAUFATOFUA, ET AL., Defendants.

Kevin S.C. Chang United States Magistrate Judge

FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION TO GRANT IN PART AND DENY IN PART PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR APPROVAL OF ATTORNEYS' FEES AND COSTS AND FOR ENTRY OF FINAL JUDGMENT AGAINST DEFENDANT SIONE TAUFATOFUA

Before the Court is Plaintiffs' Motion for Approval of Attorneys' Fees and Costs and for Entry of Final Judgment, filed January 27, 2017. Plaintiffs request $6,395.25 in attorneys' fees, $282.70 in GET, and $984.98 in costs, for a total of $7,662.93.¹ Plaintiffs request hourly rates of $250 and $195 for their counsel, Jared Kawashima and Christin Wehrsig, respectively.

1 Plaintiffs initially requested a total of $13,887.53, but withdrew their request for fees and costs incurred prior to January 26, 2016, after this Court expressed its inclination to only consider fees and costs incurred from January 26, 2016. Doc. No. 45.

After carefully reviewing Plaintiffs' submissions, the Court makes the following findings: 1) Mr. Kawashima's requested hourly rate is manifestly reasonable; 2) Ms. Wehrsig's requested hourly rate is excessive and should be reduced to $150; 3) Mr. Kawashima reasonably expended 2.2 hours; 4) Ms. Wehrsig reasonably expended 25.7 hours;² and 5) Plaintiffs reasonably incurred $752.80 in costs.³ Based on these findings, the Court recommends that this Motion be GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART and that Plaintiffs be awarded $4,405.00 in attorneys' fees, $207.56 in GET, and $752.80 in costs, for a total of $5,365.36.

2 Reductions were made for duplication (meetings also billed by Mr. Kawashima), clerical work, and insufficient description, all of which are well-established bases for reducing fee awards.

3 Reductions were made because copying costs are reimbursable at a rate of $0.15 per page in this district. Local Rule 54.2(f)(4). --------

The Court declines to address the portion of the Motion requesting the entry of final judgment, as that is a matter to be adjudicated by the district judge.

IT IS SO FOUND AND RECOMMENDED.

DATED: Honolulu, Hawaii, March 20, 2017.

/s/_________

Kevin S.C. Chang

United States Magistrate Judge