Newell Recycling, LLC, v. DC Brands International, Inc., et al

Filing 29

ORDER granting 28 Plaintiffs Motion for Attorneys Fees and Reimbursement of Costs ECF No. 28 is GRANTED; Plaintiff is entitled to and is hereby awarded $25,660 in attorneys fees and costs of $787.91; and The Amended Default Judgment should be amended to reflect that Defendant Richard J. Pearce shall be jointly and severally liable for $625,000.00, by Judge William J. Martinez on 10/28/2014.(evana, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Judge William J. Martínez
Civil Action No. 13-cv-1238-WJM-KMT
NEWELL RECYCLING, LLC, a Georgia limited liability company,
Plaintiff,
v.
DC BRANDS INTERNATIONAL, INC., a Colorado corporation; and
RICHARD J. PEARCE, an individual,
Defendants.

ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND
REIMBURSEMENT OF COSTS

Plaintiff Newell Recycling, LLC (“Plaintiff”) brings this action against DC Brands
International, Inc. (“DC Brands”) and Richard J. Pearce (“Pearce”) (together, the
“Defendants”) alleging breach of certain promissory notes and guarantees. (ECF No.
1.) Before the Court is Plaintiff’s Motion for Attorneys’ Fees and Reimbursement of
Costs (the “Motion”). (ECF No. 27.) For the following reasons, the Motion is granted.
I. BACKGROUND
Plaintiff initiated this action by filing a Complaint on May 9, 2013. (ECF No. 1.)
Both Defendants were duly served with a Summons and a copy of the complaint. (ECF
Nos. 7, 8.) After Defendants failed to answer or otherwise defend against this action,
upon Plaintiff’s Motion, the Clerk entered default against both Defendants. (ECF No.
13.) On June 6, 2014, Plaintiff filed an Amended Motion for Entry of Default Judgment
Against Defendants (the “Motion for Default”). (ECF No. 24.) The Court granted the

Motion for Default on August 5, 2014.1 (ECF No. 25.) In the Court’s Order, it noted
that, although Plaintiff was seeking an award for attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses,
Plaintiff had not requested a specific amount of attorneys’ fees or submitted the
necessary documentation supporting its request. (Id. at 6-7.) The Court, therefore,
declined to rule on the request for attorneys’ fees and costs until Plaintiff filed the
appropriate documentation. (Id. at 7.) On August 15, 2014, Plaintiff filed the instant
Motion. (ECF No. 28.)
II. ANALYSIS
Rule of Civil Procedure 54(d) provides that costs, other than attorney fees,
should be awarded to a prevailing party, and 28 U.S.C. § 1920 provides that such an
award is to be made upon the filing of a bill of costs. Additionally, under the terms of
the notes and guarantees at issue in the complaint, Defendants agreed to “pay all
reasonable costs of collection, including attorneys’ fees[.]”2 (ECF Nos. 1-1 ¶ 5, 1-2 ¶ 5.)
Plaintiff seeks attorneys’ fees in the amount of $32,075.00, which is 59.40 hours
at the partner rate of $350.00 per hour, 5.5 hours at the partner rate of $325.00 per
hour, 18.5 hours at the partner rate of $295.00 per hour, and 20.2 hours at the
associate rate of $200.00 per hour. (ECF No. 28-1 at 3.)
In the Court’s view, the hourly rates for Plaintiff’s counsel are reasonable, but the

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Plaintiff notes that the Order Granting Plaintiff’s Amended Motion for Entry of Default
Judgment Against Defendants contains a typographical error in the conclusion section, which
resulted in an error in the Final Default Judgment. (ECF No. 28 at 2 n.1.) The Court will
remedy this error in an amended default judgment.
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This provision of the notes takes this case out of the normal “American Rule”, which
provides that “the prevailing litigant is ordinarily not entitled to reasonable attorneys’ fees.”
Alyeska Pipeline Serv. Co. v. Wilderness Soc., 421 U.S. 240, 247 (1975).

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total amount of hours spent by Plaintiff’s counsel, on a case that was decided by default
judgment, appears somewhat high. First, the time sheets show that most of the work
on the case, including the drafting of the complaint, motion for entry of default and
default judgment, affidavit in support of motion for default judgment, notice of
appearance, and amended motion for entry of default judgment, was completed by Mr.
Gregory R. Crochet, Esq., an attorney with over thirty years of experience. (ECF No.
28-1 at 1-3, 3-11.) Some of these tasks were routine filings that should easily and
ordinarily been performed by junior associates charging much lower hourly rates.
Instead, Mr. Crochet spent over 59 hours on the case, and incurred almost $21,000 in
legal fees. (Id. at 12.)
Second, there is little legal research in the legal services rendered to Plaintiff.
This shows the routine nature of the work and the chances of it being completed with
some level of efficiency. It also suggests that counsel is well-versed in the law. A
review of the time sheets show that a majority of the time spent was devoted to routine
e-mail exchanges and reviewing documents. (ECF No. 28-1 at 6-17.) The Court,
therefore, in its discretion, subtracts 20 percent (20%) from the total hours expended by
each of Plaintiff’s counsel. See Malloy v. Monahan, 73 F.3d 1012, 1018 (10th Cir.
1996) (explaining that the “district court need not identify and justify every hour allowed
or disallowed” in the assessment of attorneys’ fees); Plummer v. Chemical Bank, 592
F.Supp. 1168, 1172 (S.D.N.Y. 1984) (reducing by 50% the hours claimed by the
prevailing party after finding “considerable inefficiencies and duplication of effort” which
included, inter alia, “partners doing work easily and ordinarily performed by junior
associates”).
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Plaintiff also seeks an award of $787.91 in costs—$400.00 for federal court filing
fees, $45.00 to effectuate service on the Defendants, and $342.91 on other
miscellaneous costs. (Id. at 4.) The Court finds that this amount is reasonable and that
Plaintiffs have established that they are entitled to recover this amount.
In sum—and taking into account the 20% deduction—an award for attorneys’
fees amounts to $25,660. Costs for filing the complaint, service, and other
miscellaneous costs amount to $787.91.
III. CONCLUSION
For the reasons set forth above, the Court ORDERS as follows:
1. Plaintiff’s Motion for Attorneys’ Fees and Reimbursement of Costs (ECF No.
28) is GRANTED;
2. Plaintiff is entitled to and is hereby awarded $25,660 in attorney’s fees and
costs of $787.91; and
3. The Amended Default Judgment should be amended to reflect that
Defendant Richard J. Pearce shall be jointly and severally liable for $625,000.00.
Dated this 28th day of October, 2014.
BY THE COURT:

_______________________
William J. Martínez
United States District Judge

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