Opinion
Civil Action No. 10-1555.
January 12, 2011
ORDER
Plaintiffs have filed a Motion for Default Judgment, wherein they request an award of attorney's fees. See Pls.' Mot. for Default J. (Doc. 5) at ¶ 10. Plaintiffs' request for fees precludes the entry of default judgment by the Clerk of Court. See Int'l. Union of Operating. Eng'rs., Local 4 v. Stanley Excavation, 243 F.R.D. 25, 27 n. 5 (D. Me. 2007) (fees request "prevents the [C]lerk from entering a judgment under Rule 55(b)(1), since the reasonableness of the attorney's fees necessitates [judicial review]").
By January 21, 2011 , counsel shall supplement Plaintiffs' evidence and/or arguments in support of the request for attorney's fees. Compare Pls.' Mot. at ¶ 10 (seeking attorney's fees in amount of 20% of Plaintiffs' potential gross recovery under CBA) with, e.g., Colucci v. MPC Computers, LLC Severance Plan For Emps., 2009 WL 807638, *1-2 (D. Idaho Mar. 24, 2009) (citing Third Circuit decision noting general preference for lodestar, as opposed to contingency-based, fees calculations under ERISA, and basing fee award on affidavits of counsel and accompanying billing records).
Should Plaintiffs continue to urge for a contingency-based award, their counsel should attach to their supplemental filing(s) a copy of the CBA provisions relevant to their request. Plaintiffs also should submit evidence in support of a lodestar award, in the event that their contingency-based request is denied.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
January 12, 2011