Opinion
1:15-cv-173 (GLS)
11-23-2015
ROBERT SNYDER, as Trustee of the Plumbers & Steamfitters Local No. 7 Pension, Welfare, and Annuity Funds, et al., Plaintiffs, v. PACE PLUMBING & HEATING, INC. et al., Defendants.
SUMMARY ORDER
Before the court is plaintiffs' motion for attorneys' fees. (Dkt. No. 12.) Plaintiffs commenced this action against defendants Pace Plumbing & Heating, Inc. and Michael C. Pachucki alleging delinquent contributions to employee benefit funds in violation of the collective bargaining agreement between the parties and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). (Compl., Dkt. No. 1.) After defendants failed to appear, (Dkt. No. 6), and the Clerk made an entry of default, (Dkt. No. 8), the court granted plaintiffs' motion for a default judgment. (Dkt. Nos. 10, 11.) Plaintiffs now seek attorneys' fees to compensate their efforts to recover the delinquent contributions. (Dkt. No. 12.)
Plaintiffs are Robert Snyder, Daniel Keating, Peter Campito, Timothy J. Carter, Paul R. Fredericks, and Edward Nadeau, as Trustees of the Plumbers & Steamfitters Local No. 7 Pension, Welfare, and Annuity Funds; Edward Nadeau, as Trustee of the Plumbers & Steamfitters Local No. 7 Betterment and Apprentice Training Funds and the Elaqua-Walsh Scholarship Fund, and the Plumbers and Pipefitters National Pension Fund; and United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada Local No. 7. (Compl., Dkt. No. 1.)
See 29 U.S.C. §§ 1001 - 1461.
Plaintiffs request $8,820 in attorneys' fees for forty-two hours of work by their counsel at a rate of $210 per hour. (Id., Attach. 2 at 3.) Plaintiffs' counsel submitted that he has been a licensed attorney for over thirty-five years and has represented individuals, businesses, and employee plans in civil litigation and transactional matters. (Id., Attach. 1 at 3-4.) He also provided a detailed billing record accounting for the time spent on this case. (Id. at 7-12.)
In ERISA contribution cases, fiduciaries are statutorily entitled to recover reasonable attorneys' fees. See 29 U.S.C. § 1132(g)(2)(D). To set a reasonable hourly rate, courts consider "the rate a paying client would be willing to pay" by "bear[ing] in mind all of the case-specific variables." Arbor Hill Concerned Citizens Neighborhood Ass'n v. Cty. of Albany, 522 F.3d 182, 190 (2d Cir. 2008). Plaintiffs request the prevailing hourly rate courts in the Northern District of New York have awarded experienced counsel in similar ERISA cases to recover unpaid contributions. See Upstate N.Y. Eng'rs Health Fund v. FMC Demolition, Inc., No. 5:13-cv-1307, 2015 WL 401113, at *7 (N.D.N.Y. Jan. 28, 2015) (awarding a $210 hourly fee for case entered on default judgment); see also Upstate N.Y. Eng'rs Health Fund v. Ransom, No. 5:13-cv-01434, 2015 WL 145441, at *5 (N.D.N.Y. Jan. 12, 2015) (same). The court finds that a $210 hourly rate is reasonable, and that forty-two hours expended on the matter is similarly reasonable. Therefore, plaintiffs are entitled to reasonable attorneys' fees of $210 multiplied by forty-two hours, or $8,820. See Arbor Hill, 522 F.3d at 190.
Accordingly, it is hereby,
ORDERED that plaintiffs' motion for attorneys' fees pursuant to ERISA, 29 U.S.C. § 1132(g)(2)(D), in the amount of $8,820 (Dkt. No. 12) is GRANTED, and it is further
ORDERED that the Clerk provide a copy of this Summary Order to the parties.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
November 23, 2015
Albany, New York
/s/_________
Gary I. Sharpe
U.S. District Judge