Garcia v. Creditors Specialty Service, Inc.
Filing
121
ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART 113 MOTION FOR ATTORNEYS' FEES AND COSTS. Signed by Judge Beth Labson Freeman on 3/7/2017. (blflc4, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 3/7/2017)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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SAN JOSE DIVISION
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MARITES MONTEMAYOR GARCIA,
Case No. 14-cv-01806-BLF
Plaintiff,
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v.
United States District Court
Northern District of California
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CHARLES STANLEY,
Defendant.
ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND
DENYING IN PART MOTION FOR
ATTORNEYS’ FEES
[Re: ECF 113]
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Plaintiff Marites Montemayor Garcia (“Plaintiff”) brings this action against Defendants
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Creditor Specialty Service, Inc. (“CSS”) and Charles Stanley, Jr. (“Stanley”), (collectively,
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“Defendants”) for alleged violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692
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et seq. (“FDCPA”), and the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1788
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et seq. (“RFDCPA”). Having prevailed on summary judgment against Defendant Charles Stanley,
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Jr., Plaintiff moves for attorneys’ fees and costs. ECF 113.
Having considered the submissions, the relevant law, and the record in this case, the Court
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GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART Plaintiff’s motion for attorneys’ fees and costs as
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follows.
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I.
BACKGROUND
This lawsuit arises out of Defendants’ attempt to collect consumer debts from Plaintiff.
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Plaintiff incurred a debt on a consumer credit account issued by Provident Credit Union. Garcia
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Decl. ¶ 3, ECF 93-4. After experiencing financial hardship, Plaintiff defaulted on the debt. Id.
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Thereafter, the debt was transferred to CSS for collection, where Stanley was an executive officer.
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Garcia Decl. ¶ 3; Stanley Dep. Tr. 28:6-25, ECF 93-6.
On May 1, 2013, CSS mailed a collection letter in an envelope with a glassine window,
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which exposed portions of the envelope’s contents. Garcia Decl. ¶¶ 5-6; Stip. Facts 2, ECF 93-3.
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Visible on the face of the envelope was CSS’s name, its return address, a “large red dollar sign
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logo,” Plaintiff’s name, address, and the words “SPECIAL SETTLEMENT OFFER” in bold 14
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point type were seen through the glassine window. Garcia Decl. ¶ 5, Ex. 1. After receiving this
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letter, Plaintiff filed suit on April 18, 2014, against CSS for allegedly violating the 15 U.S.C.
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sections 1692c(b), 1692f(7), and 1692f(8) (“FDCPA”) and Cal. Civil Code sections 1788.12(b),
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1788.12(d), and 1788.17 (“RFDCPA”). Compl., ECF 1.
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The Court recounts briefly the procedural history of the case to illustrate the amount of
United States District Court
Northern District of California
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litigation work that was done. After the complaint was filed, Defendant CSS did not timely
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respond. On June 11, 2014, Plaintiff moved for entry of default against CSS. The parties later
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stipulated to vacate default on July 16, 2014 and CSS answered the complaint on July 21, 2014.
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ECF 14, 20.
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On March 31, 2015, Plaintiff moved to compel discovery and for sanctions concurrently,
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because CSS had not served its initial disclosures by the October 30, 2014 deadline. ECF 27-1. In
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the motions, Plaintiff contended that CSS had also served objections to Plaintiff’s discovery
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requests on December 2, 2014, but no documents had been produced. Id. After several meet-and-
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confers in February, CSS did not respond by the deadline set forth in Plaintiff’s meet-and-confer
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letter and still had not served its disclosures or produce the requested documents when the motion
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to compel discovery was filed. Id. In response, CSS’s counsel stated that due to an illness, an
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extension of time was necessary and made a request in an email soon after the deadline set forth in
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Plaintiff’s meet-and-confer letter. ECF 33. The Court granted the motion to compel but denied
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the motion for sanctions. ECF 41
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On June 8, 2015, Plaintiff moved for leave to amend the complaint because she had only
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learned in the week prior that CSS was operated by Charles Stanley and Stanley’s involvement in
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the case. ECF 45-1. After the Court granted this unopposed motion, Plaintiff filed a first
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amended complaint on August 5, 2015. ECF 53, 54. On August 31, 2015, Defendants moved to
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dismiss the first amended complaint in its entirety, including those directed to Charles Stanley, Jr.
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ECF 60. The parties also attended a mediation session on September 29, 2015 but did not settle.
On December 17, 2015, this Court granted the motion to dismiss in part with leave to
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amend certain claims so that Plaintiff could allege adequate facts in connection with “display and
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publication” of “personal financial information.” ECF 73. Plaintiff then filed a second amended
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complaint on January 13, 2016, which Defendants moved to dismiss on March 17, 2016. ECF 74,
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75. The Court denied Defendants’ motion to dismiss the second amended complaint on June 16,
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2016. ECF 87.
Around this time in April 2016, Plaintiff moved to compel depositions and for discovery
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sanctions concurrently because Defendants failed to respond to the notices of deposition twice and
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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for failure to appear. ECF 77-1. The Court granted the motion to compel depositions, denied the
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motion for sanctions, and ordered Defendants to reimburse Plaintiff's counsel for travel in the form
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of a reasonably priced round-trip air ticket from San Jose to Southern California. ECF 84.
On July 21, 2016, Plaintiff moved for an entry of default against Defendants, who had
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failed to respond to the second amended complaint. ECF 89. Defendants responded that they had
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failed to respond only because of a clerical oversight and filed an answer the next day. ECF 90,
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91.
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Plaintiff then moved for summary judgment on August 4, 2016, to which Defendants also
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failed to respond, believing that CSS’s bankruptcy filing also stayed the case against Defendant
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Charles Stanley Jr. ECF 93, 94. After the Court’s order clarifying that the case would not be
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stayed against the non-bankrupt Defendant, Charles Stanley, Jr., Defendant Stanley sought leave
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to file an opposition, which the Court later granted. ECF 96, 97, 98.
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In the order granting in part Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment, the Court found in
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favor of Plaintiff with respect to certain sections of the FDCPA and FRDCPA, awarded $1,500 in
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statutory damages, and reasonable costs and attorneys’ fees. ECF 105. Plaintiff later voluntarily
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dismissed CSS without prejudice. ECF 107.
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Now before the Court is Plaintiff’s motion for attorneys’ fees and costs. Plaintiff seeks an
award of $64,620.00 for attorneys’ fees and $2005.89 in costs and litigation expenses. Mot. 2,
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ECF 113. Defendant Stanley opposes the motion, claiming that the amount sought is
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unreasonable for several reasons. Opp’n, ECF 116. After considering the parties’ submission, the
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Court rules as follows.
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II.
LEGAL STANDARD
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The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) directs a court to award attorneys’ fees
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and costs to a prevailing consumer against the liable debt collector. 15 U.S.C. § 1692k(a)(3). The
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Ninth Circuit held that “the FDCPA’s statutory language makes an award of fees mandatory.”
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Camacho v. Bridgeport Fin., Inc., 523 F.3d 973, 978 (9th Cir. 2008) (citation omitted). Courts in
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the Ninth Circuit calculate an award of attorneys’ fees under the FDCPA using the lodestar
method, whereby a court multiplies “the number of hours the prevailing party reasonably
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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expended on the litigation by a reasonable hourly rate.” Id. “Although in most cases, the lodestar
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figure is presumptively a reasonable fee award, the district court may, if circumstances warrant,
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adjust the lodestar to account for other factors which are not subsumed within it.” Ferland v.
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Conrad Credit Corp., 244 F.3d 1145, 1149 n.4 (9th Cir. 2001).
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The RFDPCA also provides for an award of attorneys’ fees and costs to the prevailing
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party, which “shall be entitled to costs of the action. Reasonable attorneys’ fees, which shall be
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based on time necessarily expended to enforce the liability, shall be awarded to a prevailing
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debtor.” Cal. Civ. Code § 1788.30(c). Courts awarding attorneys’ fees under the RFDPCA also
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employ the lodestar method. See Komarova v. Nat'l Credit Acceptance, Inc., 175 Cal. App. 4th
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324, 348 (2009) (“[T]he court “begins with a touchstone or lodestar figure, based on the ‘careful
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compilation of the time spent and reasonable hourly compensation of each attorney . . . involved in
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the presentation of the case’ ”) (citing Ketchum v. Moses, 24 Cal. 4th 1122, 1131-1132 (2001)). As
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under federal case law, the lodestar “may be adjusted by the court based on [multiple] factors” in
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order to “fix a fee at the fair market value for the particular action.” Ketchum, 24 Cal. 4th at 1132.
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A party seeking attorneys’ fees bears the burden of demonstrating that the rates requested
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are “in line with the prevailing market rate of the relevant community.” Carson v. Billings Police
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Dep’t, 470 F.3d 889, 891 (9th Cir. 2006) (internal quotation marks omitted); Ketchum, 24 Cal. 4th
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at 1132 (approving “use of prevailing hourly rates as a basis for the lodestar”). Generally, “the
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relevant community is the forum in which the district court sits.” Camacho, 523 F.3d at 979
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(citing Barjon v. Dalton, 132 F.3d 496, 500 (9th Cir. 1997)). Typically, “[a]ffidavits of the
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plaintiffs’ attorney and other attorneys regarding prevailing fees in the community and rate
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determinations in other cases . . . are satisfactory evidence of the prevailing market rate.” United
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Steelworkers of Am. v. Phelps Dodge Corp., 896 F.2d 403, 407 (9th Cir. 1990).
“The party opposing the fee application has a burden of rebuttal that requires submission
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of evidence to the district court challenging the accuracy and reasonableness of the . . . facts
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asserted by the prevailing party in its submitted affidavits.” Camacho, 523 F.3d at 980 (citing
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Gates v. Deukmejian, 987 F.2d 1392, 1397-98 (9th Cir. 1992)). “The lodestar amount presumably
reflects the novelty and complexity of the issues, the special skill and experience of counsel, the
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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quality of representation, and the results obtained from the litigation.” Intel Corp. v. Terabyte Int'l,
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Inc., 6 F.3d 614, 622 (9th Cir. 1993); Ketchum, 24 Cal. 4th at 1138 (“[F]or the most part, the
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difficulty of a legal question and the quality of representation are already encompassed in the
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lodestar.”). Thus, there is a strong presumption that the lodestar amount represents a reasonable
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fee and any adjustment of that figure is proper only in “rare and exceptional cases.” Van Gerwen
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v. Guar. Mut. Life Co., 214 F.3d 1041, 1045 (9th Cir. 2000) (internal citations omitted).
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III.
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DISCUSSION
In the motion, Plaintiff seeks a total of $64,620 in attorneys’ fees for 144.2 hours of
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attorney work and $2,005.89 in costs and litigation expenses. Mot. 2. In reply in support of the
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motion, Plaintiff submits a supplemental declaration supporting three additional hours spent by
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attorney Roulston in reviewing Defendant Stanley’s opposition to this motion and preparing the
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reply. Reply 10, ECF 118. The requested fees are broken down by billers and hourly rates as
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follows:
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Name
Hours
Rate
Total
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Fred W. Schwinn
69.4
$500
$34,700
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Raeon R. Roulston
74.8
$400
$29,920
Additional fees on fees
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$400
$1,200
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Total
$65,820
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While Defendant Stanley does not challenge that an award of reasonable attorneys’ fees
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and costs is required under the FDCPA and RFDCPA, he challenges the requested rates and
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amount of hours on two grounds. Opp’n. First, Stanley argues that any fees and costs incurred
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before Stanley was added as a defendant should not be awarded but admits that no case authority
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supports his argument. Id. at 2. Specifically, Stanley claims that a total of $17,140 in legal fees
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incurred prior to July 31, 2015, the date when Stanley was added to this case. Id. Stanley also
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asserts that his liability was mere “derivative” and it would be unfair to impose all the fees on him
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as if he were the primary responsible party. Id. at 5.
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Second, Stanley objects to the rate and the number of hours as being excessive. Id. at 3.
Accordingly to Stanley, there was no testimony showing that Plaintiff suffered “any real personal
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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harm” and this case does not involve violation of constitutional rights, unlike other civil rights
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cases, where rates of $400 and $500 per hour are common. Id. Stanley further claims that this
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simple case involves a “fairly narrow” area of law, does not involve repetitive conduct by the
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Defendant, “did not advance a major public interest,” and could have been resolved in small
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claims court. Id. at 3-4. Stanley also criticizes Plaintiff’s counsel for being overly aggressive,
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noting the sanction discovery motions that counsel had filed, which the magistrate judge denied.
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Id. at 4. In addition, given that the magistrate judge ordered Defendant to pay $500 toward the
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cost of the flight to Los Angeles for a deposition, Stanley argues that charging $3,200 for travel
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time would also be inconsistent with this ruling. Stanley further points out several billing entries
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that were inappropriate because the tasks were for legal research that should have been
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unnecessary. Id. at 4-5.
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A.
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As discussed above, “[a]ffidavits of the plaintiffs’ attorney and other attorneys regarding
Reasonableness of Hourly Rates
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prevailing fees in the community and rate determinations in other cases . . . are satisfactory
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evidence of the prevailing market rate.” United Steelworkers, 896 F.2d at 407. The Court first
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discusses the requested hourly rates for Fred Schwinn (“Schwinn”) and Raeon Roulston
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(“Roulston”).
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Schwinn seeks an hourly rate of $500. Mot. 6. Roulston seeks an hourly rate of $400. Id.
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Schwinn has approximately 19 years of experience, and Roulston has approximately 9 years of
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experience. Id. Both attorneys specialize in consumer credit litigation. Schwinn Decl. ¶ 5, ECF
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113-1; Roulston Decl. ¶ 5, ECF 113-3. Courts in this district have found Schwinn and Roulston’s
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requested rates reasonable in FDCPA cases. E.g., Martell v. Baker, 2015 WL 3920056, at *2
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(N.D. Cal. June 25, 2015) (finding $500 per hour rate for Schwinn and $400 per hour rate for
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Roulston to be reasonable); Jacobson v. Persolve, LLC, No. 14-00735-LHK, 2016 WL 7230873,
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at *5 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 14, 2016) (same). Cross-checking the hourly rate for attorneys set forth in
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the Laffey Matrix, which ranges from $608 to $747 per hour, also confirms that the requested rates
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are reasonable. E.g., In re HPL Techs., Inc. Sec. Litig., 366 F. Supp. 2d 912, 921 (N.D. Cal.
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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2005).
Defendant Stanley has not provided any evidence or attempted to rebut the “accuracy and
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reasonableness” specifically of Schwinn and Roulston’s requested hourly rates. Camacho, 523
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F.3d at 980 (requiring the non-moving party to submit evidence challenging the “facts asserted by
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the prevailing party in its submitted affidavits” in order to challenge the hourly rates). Instead,
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Stanley directs his argument generally to both the requested rates and the number of hours.
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Regardless, Stanley’s objection that the fees are disproportionate to the amount of recovery or the
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severity of the violation misses the purpose of the consumer protection statutes at issue here. “The
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reason for mandatory fees is that Congress chose a ‘private attorney general’ approach to assume
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enforcement of the FDCPA.” Camacho, 523 F.3d at 978. Without the benefit of receiving
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reasonable attorneys’ fees, private litigants would be otherwise dissuaded from vindicating their
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rights by bringing suit because of economic burdens. See City of Riverside v. Rivera, 477 U.S.
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561, 579 (1986). Even though this is not a civil rights case, the purpose of the fee-shifting
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provision in the FDCPA and the RFDCPA is no different from those in a civil rights litigation – to
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implement “Congress’s intent that the Act should be enforced by debtors acting as private
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attorneys general.” Camacho, 523 F.3d at 978 (citing Graziano v. Harrison, 950 F.2d 107, 113
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(3d Cir. 1991). Stanley’s contention that this case “did not advance a major public interest” also
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runs contrary to the policy determination of Congress and the California legislature that these
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consumer protection statutes “serve an important public purpose disproportionate to their cash
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value.” See Millea v. Metro-N. R. Co., 658 F.3d 154, 167 (2d Cir. 2011) (finding the same with
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respect to Family Medical Leave Act).
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Thus, the Court finds that Plaintiff has sufficiently demonstrated that Schwinn and
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Roulston’s requested hourly rates are reasonable based on prevailing market rates for attorneys
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with similar experience and skill.
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B.
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A reasonable number of hours is equal to the number of hours that the attorney could
Reasonableness of Hours
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reasonably bill to a private client. Gonzalez v. City of Maywood, 729 F.3d 1196, 1202 (9th Cir.
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2013). “A district court should exclude from the lodestar amount hours that are not reasonably
expended because they are ‘excessive, redundant, or otherwise unnecessary.’” Van Gerwin v.
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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Guarantee Mut. Life Co., 214 F.3d 1041, 1045 (9th Cir. 2000) (quoting Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461
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U.S. 424, 434 (1983)). The party seeking fees bears the initial burden of establishing the hours
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expended litigating the case and must provide detailed time records documenting the tasks
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completed and the amount of time spent. Hensley, 461 U.S. at 434; Welch v. Met. Life Ins. Co.,
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480 F.3d 942, 945-46 (9th Cir. 2007). After the party seeking fees has come forward with its
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evidence supporting the time billed, “[t]he party opposing the fee application has a burden of
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rebuttal that requires submission of evidence to the district court challenging the accuracy and
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reasonableness of the hours charged or the facts asserted by the prevailing party in its submitted
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affidavits.” Gates, 987 F.2d at 1397–98.
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Here, Plaintiff's attorneys have filed with the Court itemized billing statements and
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declarations indicating that Schwinn expended 69.4 hours, and that Roulston expended 74.8 hours,
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plus an additional 3 hours for fees on fees. Ex. A, ECF 113-2; Roulston Supp. Decl., 118-1.
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These declarations and exhibits have been held by the Ninth Circuit to be “satisfactory evidence”
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of attorneys’ fees. Camacho, 523 F.3d at 980. Thus, Plaintiff has satisfied her initial burden of
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producing evidence demonstrating the reasonableness of the requested fee. The burden thus shifts
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to Defendant Stanley to submit “evidence . . . challenging the accuracy and reasonableness of the .
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. . facts asserted by the prevailing party in its submitted affidavits.” Id.
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Although Defendant Stanley has not submitted any evidence to rebut the reasonableness of
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the hours, he makes a number of objections in opposition. One is that he should not be
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responsible for Plaintiff’s attorneys’ fees incurred when he was not yet a party to the litigation.
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Plaintiff argues that that the fees should not be reduced on this basis citing to Padgett v. Loventhal,
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706 F.3d 1205, 1209 (9th Cir. 2013). Reply 7-8. The Ninth Circuit in Padgett vacated the lower’s
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court’s attorney fee calculation in a civil rights case, in which the amount of fees was reduced
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based on the plaintiff’s success on only some of the claims filed in the complaint. Id. at 1207,
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1209. While noting that “[f]ees for work which relates only to unsuccessful claims should not be
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awarded,” the court also held that the “district court must award fees for the work that contributed
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to a successful result as if the successful claims were the only ones litigated.” Id. at 1209
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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(emphasis in original).
Here, Stanley’s objection is directed toward fees incurred when Plaintiff was litigating
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against a different defendant, not fees incurred for litigating an unsuccessful claim as in Padgett.
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Courts have the discretion to award a fee amount proportional to the work attributed to a specific
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defendant in a case with multiple defendants. E.g., Se. Legal Def. Grp. v. Adams, 657 F.2d 1118,
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1125 (9th Cir. 1981) (affirming the lower court’s determination that 75% of the time was
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attributable to the suit as against the state defendants); Breidenbach v. Experian, No. 3:12-CV-
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1548, 2013 WL 2631368, at *4 (S.D. Cal. June 11, 2013) (splitting hours shared by multiple
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defendants). While the Court will not reduce hours attributed to pre-complaint factual and legal
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research undertaken in preparation of Plaintiff’s case, which were beneficial to the claims against
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Stanley as well as CSS, Stanley should not unfairly bear the consequence of CSS’s litigation
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conduct and the fees incurred prior to adding him as a defendant. Except for pre-suit
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investigation, the Court thus will reduce fees attributed to tasks prior to July 30, 2015, when this
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Court granted Plaintiff’s motion for leave to add Stanley to the complaint.
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Fees attributed to tasks performed by Plaintiff’s attorney prior to the filing of the suit
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amount to $2,250. Ex. A to Schwinn Decl. Stanley argues that fees pre-dating July 31, 2015
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amount to $17,140. Opp’n 2. Fees that will be reduced are obtained from subtracting $2,250 from
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$17,140, which is $14,890. As such, the Court will reduce $14,890 of attorneys’ fees as not
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attributed to Stanley.
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Stanley also argues that the hours in the case should be reduced based on Plaintiff’s
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aggressiveness in litigating this case and the limited value of this case. Opp’n 4-5. As discussed
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above, the relatively small amount of statutory damages recovered in this case should not affect
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how attorneys’ fees are calculated pursuant to the fee-shifting provisions of FDCPA and
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RFDCPA. Camacho, 523 F.3d at 978.
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As to whether Plaintiff’s counsel was overly aggressive and as a result, performed
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unreasonable hours of work, the Court finds that Stanley fails to rebut the reasonableness of the
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majority of hours submitted by Plaintiff, especially in light of the procedural history of the case
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and the behavior of Stanley’s counsel throughout this litigation. First, Stanley takes exception to
the filing of discovery and sanction motions. Opp’n 4; Reply 8-9. However, leading up to the two
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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rounds of discovery and sanction motion filings, Defendants’ counsel had repeatedly neglected to
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respond to requests for written discovery or deposition notices by the deadlines. Mot. to Compel
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ECF 27-1; ECF 77-1. Although Stanley argues that the motions were not necessary and could
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have been resolved by a phone call, this argument belies the procedural history of this case. For
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example, the parties met and conferred several times in relation to Plaintiff’s discovery requests
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and the deadline was extended multiple times. Mot. to Compel. Regardless of whether
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Defendants’ counsel had a valid excuse for the multiple extensions, the filing of discovery motions
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is not unreasonable given that the Court granted both motions to compel and ultimately,
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Defendants served the initial disclosures, produced the documents, and appeared for the
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deposition. Even though Plaintiff did not prevail on the sanction motions, it is not clear from the
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record before the Court that the sanctions motions were not necessary. Because of the untimely
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responses by Stanley’s counsel on multiple occasions, it is not unreasonable for Plaintiff’s counsel
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to resort to threats of sanction in order to procure Stanley’s compliance. The unsuccessful
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sanctions motions were nevertheless part of the effort to obtain discovery from Stanley, which
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Plaintiff succeeded in doing. See, e.g., Padgett, 706 F.3d at 1209; Akins v. Enter. Rent-A-Car Co.
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of San Francisco, 79 Cal. App. 4th 1127, 1133 (2000) (“Compensation is ordinarily warranted
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even for those unsuccessful attacks, to the extent that those attacks led to a successful claim.”)
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(citation omitted).
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Stanley next objects to the hours dedicated to “research of the law” because Plaintiff’s
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counsel is presumably an expert and the numerous hours of research should not have been
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necessary. Opp’n 4-5. The Court disagrees that an attorney with the skills and experience of
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Plaintiff’s counsel is absolved from legal research. Having reviewed the attached declarations,
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and the exhibit in support of this motion, the Court finds the hours expended doing research on
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various issues are reasonable. See, e.g., Alvarado v. Hovg, LLC, No. 14-02549-HSG, 2016 WL
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5462429, at *3 (N.D. Cal. Sept. 29, 2016) (determining in a FDCPA case that legal research hours
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expended by attorneys experienced in consumer law were reasonable).
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It is particularly notable that instead of a settlement, complying with discovery short of a
motion, or a Rule 68 offer of judgment, Defendants had put forth a stalwart defense throughout the
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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litigation. Defendants had moved to dismiss the complaint twice and opposed every motion filed
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by Plaintiff. While there is nothing wrong with counsel choosing to zealously advocate for
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Defendants, it should not be a surprise that the number of hours Plaintiff’s counsel had to expend
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would correlate with the amount of opposition Defendants brought to this case. Reply 2, 4-5.
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Defendant Stanley further objects to 8 hours of travel time to Los Angeles County for a
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deposition because the magistrate judge ordered the location of the deposition as part of the
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compromise where Defendant would pay $500 toward the cost of the flight to Los Angeles.
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Opp’n 5. The Court first notes that the magistrate judge’s order requiring Defendant to pay $500
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was part of a resolution of a discovery dispute and was not related to calculation of attorneys’ fees
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under the FDCPA or the RFDCPA statutes. As such, the $500 amount does not automatically
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replace the reasonable hours expended in connection with the discovery issue.
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Second, an attorney’s travel time is generally recoverable. E.g., Santiago v. Equable
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Ascent Fin., No. 11-3158-CRB, 2013 WL 3498079, at *5 (N.D. Cal. July 12, 2013) (“A lawyer’s
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travel time is recoverable at a professional hourly rate because time spent traveling is time the
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attorney could not spend performing legal services for clients.”) (citing Chalmers v. City of L.A.,
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796 F.2d 1205, 1216 (9th Cir.1986). However, Plaintiff’s counsel charges the same rate for travel
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time as for other substantive attorney work. The Court will exercise its discretion to adjust the
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lodestar amount attributed to travel time, to account for the fact that the traveling does not require
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the intensive labor, and skill to perform the legal services as for other billing entries submitted to
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the Court. See Camacho, 523 F.3d 978 (holding that courts may adjust lodestar if circumstances
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warrant); Johnson v. CFS II, Inc., 12-01091-LHK, 2013 WL 6841964, at *9 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 27,
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2013) (approving $200 per hour for travel time when the attorney’s hourly rate was $400 per
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hour); Garcia v. Resurgent Capital Servs., L.P., No. 11-1253-EMC, 2012 WL 3778852, at *5
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(N.D. Cal. Aug. 30, 2012) (approving travel hourly rate that is 25% of an attorney’s hourly rate).
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Accordingly, the Court reduces the 8 hours of travel time to 4 hours.
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C.
Costs
Plaintiff also seeks an award of the costs incurred in the course of the litigation. Mot. 10.
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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Similar to attorneys’ fees, the FDCPA and the RFDCPA require that a prevailing plaintiff be
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awarded reasonable costs. 15 U.S.C. § 1692k(a)(3) (requiring an award of “the costs of the
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action”); Cal. Civ. Code § 1788.30 (same). Plaintiff seeks $2,005.89 in costs, which are outlined
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and itemized in Exhibit A. Stanley does not challenge these costs or argue that they are
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unreasonable. Thus, the Court finds the requested amount of costs to be reasonable. After the
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parties’ briefing on this motion, the Clerk awarded an amount of $1,466.44 in costs against
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Stanley. ECF 120. Accordingly, the amount of $1,466.44 should offset the requested amount to
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the extent any items are overlapping.
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IV.
ORDER
For the foregoing reasons, the Court GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART
Plaintiff’s motion for attorneys’ fees and costs in accordance with the following:
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1. An amount of $48,130, which is attributed to Fred W. Schwinn’s 69.4 hours at
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$500 per hour, plus Raeon R. Roulston’s 70.8 hours at $400 per hour, after
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subtracting $14,890 for fees attributed to CSS and not Stanley; and deleting four
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hours of travel time expended by Mr. Roulston;
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2. An amount of $1,200 for 3 hours for fees on fees; and
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3. An amount of $2,005.89 for costs, offset by any overlapping costs that have been
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awarded at ECF 120.
Dated: March 7, 2017
______________________________________
BETH LABSON FREEMAN
United States District Judge
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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