Terry et al v. Register Tapes Unlimited, Inc. et al

Filing 68

ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Allison Claire on 4/16/18, ORDERING that defendants shall pay to plaintiffs $32,452.50 in fees as sanctions within 10 days of this order. (Kastilahn, A)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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ROBERT TERRY, et al.,

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No. 2:16-cv-00806-WBS-AC

Plaintiffs,
v.

ORDER

REGISTER TAPES UNLIMITED, INC.,
et al.,
Defendants.

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On March 27, 2018, the undersigned granted plaintiff’s motion for sanctions and ordered

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plaintiffs to submit the billing records necessary to calculate fees. ECF No. 65. Plaintiffs have

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done so, and the court hereby orders fees in the amount of $32,452.50.

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I.

Relevant Background

On July 31, 2017, this court granted in part plaintiffs’ motion to compel. ECF No. 52. As

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part of this order, the court required the production of several categories of documents, overruled

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certain privilege objections, and ordered production of a privilege log. Id. The parties continued

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to engage in discovery, including an informal telephone conference with the court on January 11,

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2018. ECF 59. On February 20, 2018, plaintiffs moved for sanctions and to enforce the July 31,

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2017 discovery order. ECF No. 60. On March 27, 2018, following a hearing on the motion, the

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court granted plaintiffs’ motion and ordered that an award of fees as sanctions would follow
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separately upon the submission of the necessary documentation from plaintiffs. ECF No. 65.

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Plaintiffs submitted the necessary documentation on April 2, 2018. ECF No. 66. On April 9,

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2018, defendants filed a response and objections. ECF No. 67.

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II.

Analysis

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The parties have not disputed that the appropriate method for computing fees in this case

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is the lodestar approach, in which the court multiplies the number of hours reasonably expended

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on the litigation by a reasonable hourly rate. Cunningham v. City of Los Angeles, 879 F.2d 481,

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484 (9th Cir. 1988). In order to reach a determination of total fees owed as sanctions, the court

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must consider (1) when the billable hours began to run towards sanctions, and (2) the appropriate

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rates by which to multiply the hours for each billing individual.

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As to the first matter, the court determines that hours began to run towards sanctions for

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all discovery-related efforts taking place on or after July 31, 2017. The court’s directives in its

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July 31, 2017 order were clear, and had defendants complied with that order, no further hours

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spent on discovery-related conflict would have been necessary. Thus, the court accepts the hours

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presented for attorneys and paralegals1 represented in Table 2 of Robert L. Boucher’s

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Declaration. ECF No. 66 at 4.

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With respect to rates, plaintiffs submit lengthy declarations as to why the court should

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make an upward deviation from the “local rates” previously determined by this court. The court

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has recently held rates at $350 per hour for attorneys and $75 per hour for paralegals are

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appropriate in this district. Morgan Hill Concerned Parents Ass’n v. California Dep’t of Educ.,

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No. 2:11-CV-03471-KJM-AC, 2017 WL 2492850, at *3 (E.D. Cal. June 9, 2017); see also Ass’n

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v. California Dep’t of Educ., No. 2:11-CV-03471-KJM-AC, 2017 WL 2492850, at *1 (E.D. Cal.

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June 9, 2017), Orr v. California Highway Patrol, 2015 WL 9305021 at * 4, 2015 U.S. Dist.

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LEXIS 170862 at *13 (E.D. Cal. 2015) (Shubb, J.); Lin v. Dignity Health, 2014 WL5698448 at

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Two billing individuals reflected in the table, Bates and Baker, are neither attorneys nor
paralegals, but are instead classified as “case managers.” The court finds no reason to include a
fee award for individuals who are neither attorneys nor trained paralegals. Moreover, the
declarations submitted regarding their time indicate that the bulk of their billed time was for
reading e mails. See Exhibits H and I. The hours billed by these individuals are not included in
the fee award.
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*3, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 155980 at *7-8 (E.D. Cal. 2014) (Mueller, J.). Though the court has

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reviewed the submitted declarations and understands that plaintiff’s counsel ordinarily bills at

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higher rates, the court does not find good cause to deviate from the ordinarily enforced rates in

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this district. A calculation of plaintiffs’ billed time since July 31, 2017 at the accepted local rate

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yields a fees as sanctions award of $32,452.50, as represented in the table below.

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Biller
Bohm (Attorney)
Boucher (Attorney)
Ulmer (Attorney)
Patterson (Paralegal)

Rate
$                     
350.00
$                     
350.00
$                     
250.00
$                       75.00

Hours
5
52
37.2
42.7

Total Fees:

Total/Person 
$                                  
1,750.00
$                               18,200.00
$                                  
9,300.00
$                                  
3,202.50
$                               32,452.50

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III.

Conclusion

For the reasons explained above, it is hereby ordered that defendants shall pay to plaintiffs

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$32,452.50 in fees as sanctions within 10 days of this order. Failure to timely comply with this

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order will result in further sanctions.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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DATED: April 16, 2018

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