Walker v. Health International Corporation, et al

Filing 191

ORDER AWARDING ATTORNEYS' FEES, by Judge William J. Martinez on 4/24/2015. (dhans, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Judge William J. Martínez
Civil Action No. 12-cv-3256-WJM-KLM
ANDRE WALKER,
Plaintiff,
v.
HEALTH INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION, a Florida corporation,
HSN, INC., a Delaware corporation, and
HSN INTERACTIVE LLC, a Delaware corporation,
Defendants.

ORDER AWARDING ATTORNEYS’ FEES

Plaintiff Andre L. Walker (“Plaintiff”) brought this action against Defendants
Health International Corp., HSN, Inc., and HSN Interactive LLC (collectively
“Defendants”), which was settled by written agreement (“Agreement”) on May 6, 2014.
(ECF No. 145.) Finding that Plaintiff’s litigation conduct after entering into the
Agreement was vexatious and had unnecessarily multiplied the proceedings, the Court
granted Defendants’ request for an award of attorneys’ fees and costs. (ECF No. 180.)
This matter is before the Court on the Affidavit of Daniel P. Dietrich in Support of
Defendants’ Request for Attorneys’ Fees and Costs (“Affidavit”).1 (ECF No. 184.) For
the reasons set forth below, the fees and costs requested in the Affidavit are awarded
in full.

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Plaintiff’s Opposition to Defendants’ Affidavit of Fees (ECF No. 188) was stricken as
untimely. (ECF No. 190.) Accordingly, the Court has considered only the Affidavit itself in
evaluating the reasonableness of the fee award.

Both implicit in any award of attorneys’ fees, and explicit in the award in the
instant case, is the requirement that any such fees must be reasonable. See Mares v.
Credit Bureau of Raton, 801 F.2d 1197, 1201 (10th Cir. 1986) (party requesting
attorneys’ fees has burden to “prove and establish the reasonableness of each dollar,
each hour, above zero”); Robinson v. City of Edmond, 160 F.3d 1275, 1281 (10th Cir.
1998) (prevailing party must make good faith effort to exclude from a fee request any
excessive, redundant or otherwise unnecessary hours).
“The most useful starting point for determining the amount of a reasonable fee is
the number of hours reasonably expended on the litigation multiplied by a reasonable
hourly rate.” Hensley v. Eckhardt, 461 U.S. 424, 433 (1983). This is commonly
referred to as the “lodestar method” for calculating fees. Id. The best evidence of
reasonable fees is “meticulous time records that ‘reveal . . . all hours for which
compensation is requested and how those hours were allotted to specific tasks.’” Jane
L. v. Bangerter, 61 F.3d 1505, 1510 (10th Cir. 1995) (quoting Ramos v. Lamm, 713
F.2d 546, 553 (10th Cir. 1983)). The prevailing party must make a “good-faith effort to
exclude from a fee request hours that are excessive, redundant, or otherwise
unnecessary.” Hensley, 461 U.S. at 434. Where such an effort appears “inadequate,
the district court may reduce the award accordingly.” Id. at 433.
As the party seeking fees, Defendants bear the burden of providing the required
documentation and demonstrating that the fees they request are reasonable. See
Mares, 801 F.2d at 1201. The Affidavit here follows the prescribed method of setting
forth time records revealing the tasks performed by each attorney during each hour for

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which compensation is requested. See Ramos, 713 F.2d at 553. Three attorneys—
Daniel P. Dietrich, William J. Schifino, Jr., and Angela R. Whitford—expended a total of
58 hours litigating the case after the Agreement was executed, at rates of $350, $475,
and $345 per hour, respectively, for a total request of $20,511.50 in attorneys’ fees.
(ECF No. 184 at 9.) The Court has reviewed the hours and tasks described in the
Affidavit, and finds that both the hours themselves and the attorneys’ hourly rates are
reasonable, given the attorneys’ respective qualifications. Consequently, the Court
concludes that $20,511.50 is a reasonable f ee in this case.
Accordingly, it is ORDERED that the fees and costs as requested in the Affidavit
of Daniel P. Dietrich in Support of Defendants’ Request for Attorneys’ Fees and Costs
(ECF No. 184) are awarded in full, and the Clerk of Court shall enter judgment against
Plaintiff and in favor of Defendants in the amount of $20,511.50 in attorneys’ fees.
Defendants shall have their costs.
Dated this 24th day of April, 2015.
BY THE COURT:

__________________________
William J. Martínez
United States District Judge

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