South Yuba River Citizens League et al v. National Marine Fisheries Service et al

Filing 475

ORDER signed by Judge Lawrence K. Karlton on 5/31/2012 ORDERING that the hearing on defendants' 470 Motion for Reconsideration is VACATED. Plaintiffs' 473 Motion to file a Sur-reply is DENIED. The 470 Motion for Reconsideration is DE NIED. Plaintiffs' Request for Supplemental Fees in the amount of $9110.70, made in their opposition to the Motion for Reconsideration is DENIED. Plaintiffs' 458 Supplemental Motion for Fees is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. Plai ntiffs are awarded $1705 in supplemental fees, reflecting a 90% reduction in the amount requested. Defendants SHALL pay all fees due no later than ninety (90) days from the issuance of this order, and shall thereupon file a declaration with the court stating that they have done so. (Zignago, K.)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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SOUTH YUBA RIVER CITIZENS
LEAGUE and FRIENDS OF THE
RIVER,
NO. CIV. S-06-2845 LKK/JFM

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Plaintiffs,
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v.

O R D E R

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NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES
SERVICE, et al.,
Defendants.

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/

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Pending before the court is a Motion for Reconsideration of

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this court’s March 27, 2012 Order awarding fees to plaintiffs under

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the Endangered Species Act. ECF No. 469. The court does not find

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oral argument to be necessary on this matter, and the matter shall

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stand submitted on the papers. For the reasons stated below, the

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Motion for Reconsideration is DENIED.

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Defendants’ motion for reconsideration is premised on a
footnote

in

the

court’s

March
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27,

2012

order,

which

noted

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“Plaintiffs do not seek recovery of attorneys fees for their FOIA

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claims, since the parties reached a settlement on those claims,

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including attorneys fees. Additionally, plaintiffs do not seek fees

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for time spent litigating Claim 6, which was bifurcated from the

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case at bar.” March 27, 2012 Order, FN 5. Defendants argue that the

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court should then have excluded fees totaling $222,018, which

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defendants assert were connected to FOIA “requests” and litigation

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against intervenors or amicus.

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The

court

has

reviewed

the

billing

statements

cited

in

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defendants’ motion for reconsideration. All of those statements and

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defendants’ present arguments were taken into consideration at the

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time of the court’s ruling which reduced the lodestar amount by

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20%. Accordingly, the Motion for Reconsideration is DENIED.

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i. Plaintiffs’ Supplemental Fee Request

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In

their

opposition

to

the

Motion

for

Reconsideration,

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plaintiffs ask the court to award fees pursuant to a pending

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Supplemental Motion for Fees, ECF No. 458, which was stayed pending

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resolution of the primary fee motion. That supplemental motion

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originally sought $17,052.34 in fees purportedly incurred in

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opposing a motion for an extension on the deadline for a Biological

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Opinion and preparing the supplemental fee request. In their reply

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to defendant’s opposition to the supplemental motion for fees,

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plaintiffs

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Plaintiffs also seek an additional $9110.70 in fees, which they

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claim to have incurred in opposing the Motion for Reconsideration.

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The order staying the Supplemental Motion for Fees held that “all

increased

the

amount

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to

$36,512.65.

ECF

No.

464.

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deadlines for filing supplemental motions for attorneys’ fees are

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hereby stayed. Supplemental motions’ for attorneys’ fees, if any,

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will be due no later than 28 days after an order on Plaintiffs’

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motion for attorneys’ fees.” ECF No. 465. As noted, this court

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issued an order on plaintiffs’ motion for attorneys’ fees on March

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27, 2012. The deadline for filing for supplemental attorneys’ fees

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was April 24, 2012. Plaintiffs concede that this deadline applies

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to fees for opposing the instant Motion for Reconsideration. Pls.’

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Opp’n. to Mot. for Reconsideration at 6, ECF No. 471.

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Fed. R. Civ. P. 54 provides “A claim for attorneys fees. . .

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must be made by motion. . . Unless a statute or a court order

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provides otherwise, the motion must be filed no later than 14 days

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after the entry of judgment.” As noted, that deadline was extended

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by this court to April 24, 2012. Plaintiffs did not file a motion

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for the requested $9110.70 in fees for opposing the Motion for

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Reconsideration by that deadline. Instead, they made a fee request

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in in an opposition to a motion filed by defendants. Accordingly,

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the request is DENIED.

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With respect to the already-pending Supplemental Motion for

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Fees for opposing the motion for an extension of time to file the

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BiOp, ECF No. 458, the court finds that fees are appropriate.

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However, the court will consider only the initial $17,052.34 that

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was properly sought by motion. The court finds even that amount to

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be unreasonable. Plaintiffs did achieve some degree of success, as

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the court granted defendants’ motion to extend the deadline, but

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by a substantially shorter period of time than defendants had
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sought. The opposition to the motion for an extension of time was

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a six-page brief. The matter was submitted on the papers and no

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hearing was held.

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The court finds that a 90% reduction is warranted, given the

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relative

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supplemental

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Plaintiffs are awarded $1705 in supplemental fees.

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simplicity
motion

of
is

the

matter.

GRANTED

in

Accordingly,

part

and

plaintiffs’

DENIED

in

part.

For the foregoing reasons, the court ORDERS as follows:

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[1]

The

hearing

on

defendants’

Motion

for

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Reconsideration, ECF No. 470, is VACATED.

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[2] Plaintiffs’ Motion to file a Sur-reply, ECF No. 474

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is DENIED.

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[3] The Motion for Reconsideration, ECF No. 470, is

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DENIED.

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[4] Plaintiffs’ Request for Supplemental Fees in the

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amount of $9110.70, made in their opposition to the

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Motion for Reconsideration is DENIED.

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[5] Plaintiffs’ Supplemental Motion for Fees, ECF No.

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458 is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. Plaintiffs

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are awarded $1705 in supplemental fees, reflecting a 90%

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reduction in the amount requested.

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[6] Defendants SHALL pay all fees due no later than

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ninety (90) days from the issuance of this order, and

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shall

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stating that they have done so.

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thereupon

file

a

////
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declaration

with

the

court

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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DATED: May 31, 2012.

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