Carpenters Pension Trust Fund for Northern California v. Walker et al
Filing
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Order by Hon. William H. Orrick granting in part and denying in part 93 Motion for Attorney Fees. The defendants shall pay the Trust Fund $225,072.00 in attorneys' fees and $418.50 in costs (totaling $225,490.50). (jmdS, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 3/9/2015)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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CARPENTERS PENSION TRUST FUND
FOR NORTHERN CALIFORNIA,
Plaintiff,
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Case No. 12-cv-01447-WHO
ORDER RE ATTORNEYS’ FEES
v.
Re: Dkt. No. 94
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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KEITH WALKER, et al.,
Defendants.
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Plaintiff Carpenters Pension Trust Fund for Northern California (“Pension Fund”)
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prevailed on two motions for summary judgment against the defendants in this case and is entitled
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to attorneys’ fees and costs under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1132(g)(2) and 1451(b). Its motion is suitable for
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disposition without oral argument and I VACATE the March 11, 2015 hearing. Civ. L.R. 7–1(b);
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FED. R. CIV. P. 78(b). Although its motion for $250,080.00 in attorneys’ fees and $4,250.71 in
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litigation expenses is unopposed, I am reducing the fees sought by 10% because plaintiff billed for
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six lawyers to handle a relatively uncomplicated matter, causing inevitable duplication. I am also
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reducing the costs because plaintiff seeks some that are not allowed under ERISA. The Pension
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Fund is entitled to $225,072.00 in fees and $418.50 in costs.
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BACKGROUND
The Pension Fund is an employee benefit plan and a multiemployer plan as defined by the
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Employment Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”). Order (2) at 1 (Dkt. No. 90).
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It covers employees in the building and construction industry. Id. at 2. Defendant Keith Walker
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owned Rollie French Inc. (“RFI”), as well as defendants the Keith Walker Trust dated March 17,
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1999, the Keith Walker Trust dated May 17, 1999, the Real Estate Leasing Business operated by
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the Keith Walker Trust, D&B Engineered Applications, Inc. (“D&B”), and K&M Industries
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(“K&M”). Id. at 1-2. RFI filed for bankruptcy in 2005. Order (1) at 2 (Dkt. No. 75). RFI and the
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Pension Fund were bound by collective bargaining agreements until 2008, when RFI terminated
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the agreements. Id. When the Pension Fund notified RFI that it had been assessed withdrawal
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liability under ERISA of $1,726,467.00, RFI stated that it did not owe withdrawal liability
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payments and did not pay. Id. The Pension Fund brought the present action against the
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defendants, and I granted summary judgment on April 17, 2014 and January 16, 2015. See Order
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(1); Order (2). The Pension Fund moves for attorneys’ fees and costs totaling $254,330.71. The
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defendants did not file an opposition.
LEGAL STANDARD
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Under ERISA, an employer’s failure to pay withdrawal liability payments within the time
prescribed is treated as a delinquent contribution. 29 U.S.C. § 1451(b). A prevailing plaintiff is
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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entitled to fees and costs resulting from enforcement of delinquent contributions. 29 U.S.C. §
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1132(g)(2).
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District courts use the lodestar method to calculate an award of attorneys’ fees. Under this
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method, the court “multiplies the number of hours the prevailing party reasonably expended on the
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litigation by a reasonable hourly rate.” Gonzalez v. City of Maywood, 729 F.3d 1196, 1202 (9th
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Cir. 2013) (internal citations and quotations omitted). A fee award calculated under the lodestar
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method is generally presumed to be reasonable. Id. at 1208-09. However, the court may adjust
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this figure “if circumstances warrant . . . to account for other factors which are not subsumed
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within it.” Ferland v. Conrad Credit Corp., 244 F.3d 1145, 1149 n.4 (9th Cir. 2001).
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The party seeking an award of fees must establish entitlement to the award and must
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submit evidence that supports the hours worked and the rates claimed. Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461
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U.S. 424, 433 (1983). “Where the documentation of hours is inadequate, the district court may
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reduce the award accordingly.” Id. The Ninth Circuit has stated that a district court may “impose
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a small reduction, no greater than 10 percent—a ‘haircut’—based on its exercise of discretion and
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without a more specific explanation.” Moreno v. City of Sacramento, 534 F.3d 1106, 1112 (9th
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Cir. 2008). To determine a reasonable fee award under the lodestar method, the court may
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“exclude from a fee request hours that are excessive, redundant, or otherwise unnecessary.”
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Hensley, 461 U.S. at 434.
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DISCUSSION
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I. ATTORNEYS’ FEES
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The first motion for summary judgment addressed control group liability and the
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defendants’ waiver of defenses by their failure to initiate ERISA’s arbitration procedures. See
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Order (1) at 6-9. The second motion for summary judgment involved substantially similar issues
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against different defendants. See Order (2) at 5-9. Although this case was fact-intensive in that it
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required the Pension Fund to determine Walker’s relationship to multiple corporate entities, the
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legal analysis was not particularly complex, especially for a law firm that specializes in ERISA
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matters. I understand that counsel for the Pension Fund encountered some unexpected setbacks in
prosecuting this case--of the two attorneys primarily assigned to the case, one departed from the
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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firm and the other suffered a personal tragedy, preventing both from drafting the first motion for
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summary judgment. Mot. at 5 (Dkt. No. 93). Still and all, plaintiff is entitled to a reasonable fee
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for work needed for the case, not for compensation for every moment a lawyer spent on it if the
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work was duplicative, inefficient or unnecessary.
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It was not reasonable to employ six attorneys, three of whom have over 20 years of
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experience, to work on this matter. The fees motion reflects a substantial amount of hours billed
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by multiple experienced attorneys on matters that could have been accomplished by less senior
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attorneys. See Hernandez v. Grullense, No. 12-CV-03257-WHO, 2014 WL 1724356, at *8 (N.D.
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Cal. Apr. 30, 2014) (“in light of [his] specialized knowledge and his commensurately high billing
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rate, [counsel] should reasonably limit his involvement to matters requiring his level of skill”).
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The number of attorneys working on this matter created an unnecessary amount of time billed for
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conferencing and strategizing. Id. at *10. Nor do I understand why it took four lawyers to draft
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the motion for summary judgment.
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Based upon my detailed review of the Pension Fund’s billing records, I find that a 10%
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reduction in the requested attorneys’ fees is appropriate to account for the overstaffing of this case.
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See Moreno, 534 F.3d at 1112. I therefore reduce the lodestar amount recoverable by the Pension
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Fund to $225,072.00.
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II. COSTS
The Pension Fund requests $4,250.71 in litigation expenses, including parking and
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attorney travel to attend court hearings, electronic research, fax filing for service of summons,
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overnight delivery, copying fees, and postage. Mot. at 7. The Ninth Circuit has held that costs
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provided to a prevailing party under the relevant sections of ERISA are limited to costs allowed
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under 28 U.S.C. § 1920. Agredano v. Mut. of Omaha Companies, 75 F.3d 541, 544 (9th Cir.
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1996); Bonilla v. KDH Backhoe Serv., Inc., No. C05-3259 EMC, 2007 WL 39307, at *2 (N.D.
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Cal. Jan. 4, 2007). As opposed to the recovery of costs under 42 U.S.C. § 1988 or 16 U.S.C. §
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1540, this statute does not include costs for postage, electronic research, overnight delivery, or
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attorney travel. See Good Earth Corp. v. M.D. Horton & Associates, No. C-94-3455-CAL, 1997
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WL 702297, at *10 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 4, 1997) aff’d sub nom. Good Earth Corp. v. M.D. Horton &
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
Associates, 156 F.3d 1236 (9th Cir. 1998); see also Bonilla, 2007 WL 39307, at *3; Ferreira v.
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M/V CCNI ANTOFAGASTA, No. 204-CV-1916-MCE-DAD, 2007 WL 3034941, at *2 (E.D. Cal.
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Oct. 16, 2007). Therefore, the Pension Fund’s recovery of litigation expenses is limited to those
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related to service of summons ($64.75) and copying ($353.75), or $418.50.
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CONCLUSION
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The Trust Fund’s motion for attorneys’ fees and costs is GRANTED in part and DENIED
in part. The defendants shall pay the Trust Fund $225,072.00 in attorneys’ fees and $418.50 in
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costs (totaling $225,490.50).
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
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Dated: March 9, 2015
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______________________________________
WILLIAM H. ORRICK
United States District Judge
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