Opinion
Case No. 2:11-CV-1124 JAM-JFM
08-11-2011
BLUE LAKE RANCHERIA, a federally-recognized Indian Tribe; BLUE LAKE RANCHERIA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, a federally-chartered tribal corporation; and MAINSTAY BUSINESS SOLUTIONS, a federally-authorized division of Blue Lake Rancheria Economic Development Corporation, Plaintiffs, v. MARTY MORGENSTERN, individually and in his official capacity as Secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency; PAM HARRIS, indiVidually and in her official capacity as Chief Deputy Director of the Employment Development Department of the State of California ("EDD"); JACK BUDMARK, individually and in his official capacity as a Deputy Director of the Tax Brach of the EDD; TALBOTT SMITH, individually and in his official capacity as a Deputy Director of the Unemployment Branch of the EDD; KATHY DUNNE, individually and in her official capacity as a Senior Tax Compliance Representative of the EDD; SARAH REECE, individually and in her capacity as an Authorized Representative of the EDD; THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA; THE EMPLOYMENT DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, a department of the State of California; and DOES 1-50, inclusive, Defendants.
FEE AWARD
On July 27, 2011 the Court issued an order (Doc. #38) permitting Plaintiffs Blue Lake Rancheria, Blue Lake Rancheria Economic Development Corporation and Mainstay Business Solutions (collectively "Plaintiffs") to file a sur reply along with a declaration setting forth the attorneys fees and costs incurred in the preparation and filing of the sur reply. The Court stated that it would award reasonable attorneys fees to Plaintiffs as a sanction against Defendants Marty Morgenstern, Pam Harris, Jack Budmark, Talbott Smith, Kathy Dunne and Sarah Reece (collectively "Defendants") for violating the Courts previous order regarding supplemental briefing. See Transcript of Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Doc. #31) at 45:23-46:1.
Plaintiffs ask this Court for an award of fees in the amount of $19,952.50. Having reviewed Plaintiffs' Declaration (Doc. #39, attachment #1)setting forth the fees incurred in preparing the sur reply, the Court finds that $19,952.50 is not a reasonable fee award. The Court will award reasonable attorneys fees of $6,035.00 to Plaintiffs. The Court eliminated fees for work that it found to be unnecessary and/or duplicative, and reduced the hourly billing rate for Mr. Rubin. Specifically, the Court awarded fees for 10 hours of work performed by Gregg Philipp and Lucia Kim at a blended billing rate of $232.50 per hour, 8 hours of work by David Rapport at $250.00 per hour and 3.8 hours of work performed by Robert Rubin at $450.00 per hour.
ORDER
Defendants are ordered to pay Plaintiffs $6,035.00 within thirty (30) days of the date of this Order.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
JOHN A. MENDEZ
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE