Opinion
CIVIL ACTION No. 00-6442
October 9, 2003
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
Presently before the Court is Plaintiff's motion for reconsideration of the Court's September 17, 2003, Order denying Plaintiff's motion for additional attorney's fees. For the reasons set out below, the Court grants in part and denies in part Plaintiff's motion and awards attorney's fees in the amount of $10,033.33.
On April 12, 2003, after a bench trial regarding Plaintiff's claims under the Truth in Lending Act ("TILA"), the Court awarded Plaintiff damages in the amount of $10,192.06. On May 21, 2003, the Court awarded Plaintiff $20,299.00 in attorney's fees, which represented a 30% reduction of the requested lodestar amount. Subsequently, Defendant appealed two aspects of the Court's April 12 Order, and Plaintiff cross-appealed the Court's decision to reduce the lodestar amount by 30%. On August 4, 2003, the Third Circuit affirmed the Court's rulings in all respects. On September 2, 2003, Plaintiff filed in this Court a new motion requesting that he be awarded attorney's fees incurred during the post-trial and appellate processes. On September 17, 2003, the Court denied this motion on the grounds that the Third Circuit had ordered each party to bear its own costs on appeal.
The Court now recognizes that its September 17 Order erroneously interpreted the Third Circuit's holding that each party was to bear its own costs on appeal. As the Third Circuit held in McDonald v. McCarthy, 966 F.2d 112, 118 (3d Cir. 1992), the statement that "each party is to bear its own costs" under Rule 39 of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure has no effect upon an award of attorney's fees under a fee-shifting statute such as TILA that explicitly differentiates between costs and fees. fed. R. app. proc. 39; see also 15 U.S.C. § 1640(a)(3). Accordingly, this Court will vacate its Order of September 17, 2003.
Under TILA and for the reasons set forth in this Court's order of May 21, 2003, Plaintiff is entitled to the $3,300.00 in fees that he incurred in successfully defending against Defendant's post-trial motions, as well the $450.00 that he incurred in successfully requesting attorney's fees. See Order of May 21, 2003, at 9-10. Plaintiff is also entitled to the fees that he incurred in opposing Defendant's appeal. See Purtle v. Eldridge Auto Sales, Inc., 91 F.3d 797, 803 (6th Cir. 1996) ("Generally, . . . TILA allows a plaintiff prevailing on a TILA claim on appeal to be compensated for appellate work."); Matter of Prickett, 27 B.R. 977, 979 (S.D. Ga. 1983) (holding that award of appellee's fees after unsuccessful appeal "is consonant with the purposes and goals of the Truth-in-Lending Act"). Plaintiff may not, however, recover fees based upon his cross-appeal, which was entirely unsuccessful. Cf. Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 440 (1983) (holding, in reference to fee-shifting provision of § 1988, that "where the plaintiff achieved only limited success, the district court should award only that amount of fees that is reasonable in relation to the results obtained"). After reviewing the records submitted by Plaintiff's counsel, the Court is unable to determine which fees were incurred as a result of the appeal versus those incurred from the cross-appeal. Thus, in light of the fact that Defendant's appeal accounted for two of the three issues raised before the Third Circuit, the Court will award Plaintiff two-thirds of his appeal-related fees of $9425.00, or $6283.33. See Payne v. Equicredit Corp. of Am., Nos. 02-2706, 02-2771, 2003 WL 21783757 (3d Cir. 2003) (upholding 30% reduction in lodestar for unsuccessful claims). Finally, pursuant to the Third Circuit's Order in this case, see id., Plaintiff may not recover the costs of his appeal, which amount to $598.91. (Pl.'s Mot. for Additional Couns. Fees, Ex. B at 2.)
In sum, the Court awards Plaintiff attorney's fees of: (a) $3,300.00 incurred opposing Defendant's post-trial motions; (b) $450.00 incurred requesting attorney's fees; and (c) $6283.33 incurred opposing Defendant's appeal. The total amount awarded, therefore, is $10,033.33. An appropriate Order follows.
ORDER
AND NOW, this 9th day of October, 2003, upon consideration of Plaintiff s Motion for Reconsideration and the response thereto, it is hereby ORDERED that:
1. Plaintiff's Motion for Reconsideration (Document No. 63) is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part, as follows:
a. This Court's Order of September 17, 2003 (Document No. 61) is VACATED;
b. In addition to the amounts previously awarded by the Court's Orders of April 12, 2003, and May 21, 2003, Defendant is ordered to pay to Plaintiff the sum of TEN-THOUSAND AND THIRTY-THREE DOLLARS AND THIRTY-THREE CENTS ($10,033.33) in attorney's fees.
2. The Clerk of Court is directed to close this case.