Steward v. County of Santa Clara et al

Filing 158

ORDER RE: PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR ATTORNEY'S FEES granting in part and denying in part 142 Motion for Attorney Fees. (Illston, Susan) (Filed on 1/10/2022)

Case 3:18-cv-04119-SI Document 158 Filed 01/10/22 Page 1 of 4

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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AARON STEWARD,
Plaintiff,

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Case No. 18-cv-04119-SI
ORDER RE: PLAINTIFF’S MOTION
FOR ATTORNEYS’ FEES

v.
COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA, et al.,

Re: Dkt. No. 142

Defendants.

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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Now before the Court is plaintiff’s motion for attorneys’ fees. For the reasons set forth

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below, the motion is GRANTED IN PART. The Court awards plaintiff fees in the amount of

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$180,117.50.

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DISCUSSION

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On July 11, 2018, plaintiff Aaron Steward filed a civil rights complaint alleging two causes

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of action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claiming excessive force pursuant to the Fourteenth Amendment;

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one cause of action under California Civil Code 52.1 (“Bane Act”); and four causes of action for

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intentional infliction of emotional distress (“IIED”) against defendants the City of Santa Clara,

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Deputy Rico West, Deputy Christopher Graham, Amy Le, Richard Guerzo, Tony Alvarez, Adam

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Valle, and DOES 1-100. Dkt. No. 1. After summary judgment, plaintiff’s claims against Deputy

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West, for an alleged November 7, 2016 contraband search and July 12, 2017 altercation, and Deputy

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Graham, for an alleged July 12, 2017 “rough ride”, remained. Dkt. No. 83. The parties waived a

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jury trial, and the action came on for trial before the Court on April 26, 2021 through April 29, 2021.

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After trial concluded, this Court found in favor of Steward on his claims against Deputy

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West related to the July 12, 2017 altercation, and found against Steward on his claims against West

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regarding the November 7, 2016 contraband search and his claims against Deputy Graham for the

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alleged “rough ride.” With regard to the July 12, 2017 altercation, the Court found, inter alia, that

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Deputy West’s actions were unreasonable and that he had engaged in excessive force, that Steward

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did not actively resist, that the testimony of West and other deputies was not credible, and that West

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violated Steward’s rights under the Fourteenth Amendment and the Bane Act. Dkt. No. 135 at 6-9.

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The Court also found that Steward suffered from a deep laceration above his right eye and currently

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suffers painful headaches, and awarded $10,000 in compensatory damages and $1,000 in punitive

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damages against West. The Court also held, “Given plaintiff’s limited success in his claims that

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relate to his pre-trial detention against defendant Deputy West and Deputy Graham, plaintiff is

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awarded attorneys’ fees to the extent of his claims against Deputy West for the July 12, 2017

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altercation.” Id. at 10.

United States District Court
Northern District of California

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Plaintiff now seeks $360,235 in fees1 and requests a 2.0 multiplier for the Bane Act claim.

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In support of the fee request, plaintiff has submitted declarations from the lawyers and paralegals

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who worked on the case, accompanied by their billing records, as well as a declaration from Richard

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Pearl, an expert on attorneys’ fees who opines about the reasonableness of plaintiff’s counsel’s

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hourly rates. Dkt. Nos. 141, 142, 144, 147. Counsel state that they have made deductions to exclude

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time spent on unsuccessful claims (approximately 78.8 hours).

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Defendants contend that the Court should reduce the fee request by 80% on the ground that

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many of plaintiff’s claims were ultimately unsuccessful. Defendants also argue, inter alia, that

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Steward is not entitled to a multiplier (and that counsel have not segregated work attributable to the

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Bane Act claim), that plaintiff’s counsel’s rates are too high, and that plaintiff’s counsel overstaffed

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the case. Defendants contend that the Court should award no more than $30,650.

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The Court finds it appropriate to reduce plaintiff’s lodestar by 50% to account for plaintiff’s

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limited success, for a total of $180,117.50.2 “[T]he extent of a plaintiff’s success is a crucial factor

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in determining the proper amount of an award of attorney’s fees” under § 1988.” Hensley v.

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Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 440 (1983). Courts may, in their discretion, reduce a fee award to reflect

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Plaintiff submitted a separate bill of costs that was taxed by the Clerk. See Dkt. No. 157.

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For the same reason, the Court finds a multiplier is not appropriate.
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limited success, such as when a plaintiff only prevails on some claims, or only against one of several

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defendants. See Lytle v. Carl, 382 F.3d 978, 989 (9th Cir. 2004) (district court did not abuse

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discretion by reducing fees when plaintiff did not prevail on majority of original claims); Webb v.

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Sloan, 330 F.3d 1158, 1169-70 (9th Cir. 2003) (finding discretionary reduction of attorneys’ fees to

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reflect limited success appropriate where plaintiff initially sued several defendants, but prevailed

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against only one, and had claims related to plaintiff’s arrest, detention, and prosecution); Harris v.

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Marhoefer, 24 F.3d 16, 18-19 (9th Cir. 1994) (affirming district court’s 50% reduction of attorneys’

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fees in civil rights case based on plaintiff’s partial success).
Here, Steward prevailed on his § 1983 and Bane Act claims against Deputy West based on

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the July 12, 2017 altercation, and was unsuccessful on his other claims either at summary judgment

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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or at trial. The Court finds that a 50% reduction in the lodestar reflects plaintiff’s limited success,

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while also accounting for the fact that the successful claims against Deputy West were factually

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intertwined with many of the unsuccessful claims, including:

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inadequate training led to the constitutional violations; his claim that Graham gave him a “rough

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ride” after the altercation (raising questions of whether Steward’s injuries were caused by the

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altercation, the ride, or both); and claims that he suffered negative consequences of being labeled

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the aggressor in the fight by West, such as witness intimidation and punitive rehousing decisions by

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defendant Alvarez, defamation by defendant Le in a television interview after the incident, and

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intimidation and harassment by defendant Internal Affairs investigator Valle.

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circumstances, the Court finds it appropriate to significantly reduce the fees sought, but not by the

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80% proposed by defendant.

Steward’s Monell claim that

Under these

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The Court is not persuaded by defendants’ contention that the fees should be further reduced

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because Steward did not recover significant monetary damages. As an initial matter, the Court notes

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that at trial Steward did not request a particular dollar amount in damages, and the Court could have

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awarded nominal damages. Based on the evidence of Steward’s injuries and continuing headaches,

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the Court awarded him compensatory damages of $10,000. The Court awarded punitive damages

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of $1,000 based upon its finding that “Deputy West’s actions, particularly his decision to disregard

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his training of contraband searches and repeatedly striking plaintiff in the head with a pepper spray
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can, to be either reckless or callous disregard of, or indifference to, the rights or safety of plaintiff

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Aaron Steward” and that West’s actions “were a shocking abuse of power.” Dkt. No. 135 at 10.
Moreover, “the dollar amount lawyers recover for their clients is not the sole measure of the

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results the prevailing parties’ attorneys obtained.” Gonzalez v. City of Maywood, 729 F.3d 1196,

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1209-10 (9th Cir. 2013). “Attorneys who win a civil rights claim not only benefit their client in

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terms of the amount of money they recover, they also confer benefits on others throughout society

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by, for example, ending institutional civil rights abuses or clarifying standards of constitutional

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conduct.” Id. at 1210. “Even in cases seeking only monetary relief, ‘a successful civil rights

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plaintiff often secures important social benefits that are not reflected in nominal or relatively small

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damage awards.’ Therefore, it is inappropriate for a district court to reduce a fee award below the

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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lodestar simply because the damages obtained are small.” Quesada v. Thomason, 850 F.2d 537,

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540 (9th Cir. 1988) (quoting City of Riverside v. Rivera, 477 U.S. 561, 574 (1986)).

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The Court is not persuaded by defendants’ remaining challenges to plaintiff’s fee request.

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This case was factually and legally complicated and involved extensive discovery, and the Court

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finds the case was not overstaffed. At trial (this Court’s first zoom trial with live testimony during

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the COVID pandemic), plaintiff’s counsel ably navigated numerous logistical challenges, including

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in presenting remote testimony from multiple incarcerated witnesses. Finally, the Court finds that

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the declarations of counsel as well as that of Mr. Pearl support the reasonableness of counsel’s rates.

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CONCLUSION

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Accordingly, for the reasons set forth above, the Court GRANTS IN PART plaintiff’s
motion for attorneys’ fees and awards $180,117.50 in fees.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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Dated: January 10, 2022

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SUSAN ILLSTON
United States District Judge

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