Opinion
Case No. 11-cv-15667
10-24-2012
Honorable Patrick J. Duggan
JUDGMENT
This matter having come before the Court on Plaintiff's Motion for Default Judgment, due notice having been given, the Court having been fully advised, and a Clerk's Entry of Default having previously been entered against Defendants,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, that Judgment is entered in favor of Plaintiff Schavi Williams and against Defendants Megan Vandeviver and Viking Holding Group, Inc., d/b/a Goldman, Price & Associates, LLC., as follows:
1. $1,000.00 statutory damages for Defendant's violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
2. $2,650.00 actual damages, as established by Plaintiff's affidavit, for Defendant's violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
3. $3,486.50 for Plaintiff's attorneys' fees.
4. $555.00 for Plaintiff's costs.
5. Total Judgment in the amount of $7,691.50.
The Court has reduced the attorneys' fees requested by Plaintiff to reflect the average hourly billing rates for the relevant community based on the most recent Economics of Law Practice Survey in Michigan published by the State Bar of Michigan. See Blum v. Stevenson, 465 U.S. 886, 895 (1985). In other words, the Court found the hourly rates charged by Plaintiff's attorneys to be too high. Plaintiff attached the Laffey Matrix rates to her motion which reflects rates in the District of Columbia market. The Court does not believe that those rates are commensurate with the rates charged in the local market.
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Patrick J. Duggan
United States District Judge
I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing document was served upon counsel of record on October 24, 2012, by electronic and/or ordinary mail.
Marilyn Orem
Case Manager