Opinion
8:18-cv-00108-JLS-JDE
06-21-2021
Kolay Flooring International, LLC, et al v. Luis Barroso De La Fuente, et al
Present: Honorable JOSEPHINE L. STATON, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
CIVIL MINUTES - GENERAL
PROCEEDINGS: (IN CHAMBERS) ORDER AWARDING DEFENDANTS ATTORNEYS' FEES
On May 18, 2021, the Court (1) denied Plaintiffs' motion seeking a “determination of the Court's person al jurisdiction over Defendant Luis Gerardo Barroso Gonzalez” and (2) granted Defendants' request for attorneys' fees under Rule 16(f), ordering Defendants to submit evidence supporting their request within fourteen days. (Order, Doc. 144. )
Defendants submitted a declaration and billing records supporting their request for $18, 049.50 in fees. (Def. Fees Statement, Doc. 145.) The request is based on 57.3 hours of work at a billing rate of $315.00 per hour. (Billing Records, Doc. 145-1.) Of these hours, Defendants billed approximately 12.3 hours for work related to their opposition to Plaintiffs' earlier ex parte application seeking the same relief; 38.4 hours for work related to their opposition to Plaintiffs' motion; and 6.6 hours for work spent preparing the instant statement and supporting evidence. (Id.) Plaintiffs opposed, arguing that the Court should award no more than the hours billed to draft the “almost identical ex parte opposition.” (Pl. Opp., Doc. 146.)
Having reviewed the evidence and billing records, the Court concludes that the hours billed for preparing the Ex Parte Opposition and instant Fees Statement appear reasonable , but that some of the hours billed for the Motion Opposition appear duplicative of the work billed for the Ex Parte Opposition-particularly given Defendants' counsel's statement that “Defendants cut and pasted unto their Motion
Opposition practically their entire Opposition to Plaintiffs' Ex Parte Application” (Torres Decl. ¶ 4). Accordingly, the Court determines that a 40% reduction in the 38.4 hours billed for the Motion Opposition is appropriate. The Court's modifications reduce the hours requested from 57.3 to 41.9 (12.3 hours for the Ex Parte Application + 23 hours for the Motion Opposition + 6.6 hours for the Fees Statement), resulting in a total fee award of $13, 198.50 (41.9 x $315.00.)
The Court therefore GRANTS IN PART Defendants' request for attorneys' fees under Rule 16(f), and awards Defendants $13, 198.50 in attorneys' fees.