J & J Sports Productions, Inc v. Phair et al

Filing 47

ORDER. Signed by Judge Chhabria on 8/29/2014. (vclc2, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 8/29/2014)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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J & J SPORTS PRODUCTIONS, INC,
Plaintiff,
v.
JOHN JEFFREY PHAIR, et al.,
Defendants.

Case No. 12-cv-05781-VC
ORDER AWARDING FEES
Re: Docket Nos. 44, 45, 46

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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J & J Sports Productions, Inc. is ordered to pay the defendants $997.50 for defense

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counsel's reasonable attorneys' fees incurred in responding to J & J's frivolous motion for fees.

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See Order, Doc. No. 44. As J & J acknowledges, defense counsel's hourly rate of $285 is

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reasonable in light of the prevailing rate of $482 per hour for associates in the San Francisco Bay

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area, and the 3.5 hours she spent responding to J & J's motion is also reasonable. See Doc. No. 45,

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Exs. 3 and 4.

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The Court has considered J & J's objections, namely that the plaintiff has been awarded

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attorneys' fees based on a similar motion in the past. But the fact that J & J has prevailed on its

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frivolous motions in the past does not mean the conduct should be permitted. And many courts

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have addressed J & J's practice of submitting this identical, unsupported motion, even flagging for

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the plaintiff its copying and pasting errors, and yet the practice continues. Finally, the defendants'

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default does not prevent the Court from assessing sanctions on its own accord.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: August 29, 2014
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VINCE CHHABRIA
United States District Judge