Isaac v. Classic Cleaners of Pelican Landing, Inc. et al

Filing 20

OPINION AND ORDER granting 18 Motion for Attorney Fees and Costs as set forth in the Opinion and Order. The Clerk shall enter an amended judgment granting attorney's fees in favor of plaintiff in the amount of $3,203.50, and statutory costs in the amount of $510.00. Signed by Judge John E. Steele on 2/16/2017. (RKR)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
FORT MYERS DIVISION
JOANN ISAAC,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No: 2:16-cv-171-FtM-29CM

CLASSIC CLEANERS OF PELICAN
LANDING, INC., a Florida
profit corporation,
Defendant.
OPINION AND ORDER
This matter comes before the Court on plaintiff's Motion for
Reasonable Attorneys' Fees and Costs (Doc. #18) filed on January
10, 2017.

No response has been filed, and the time to respond has

expired.
On December 27, 2016, the Court issued an Opinion and Order
(Doc. #16) granting default judgment in favor of plaintiff and
against defendant as to Count I for unpaid overtime compensation
and liquidated damages under the provisions of the Fair Labor
Standards Act (FLSA).

Default Judgment (Doc. #17) was entered

against defendant on the same day.

Plaintiff now seeks attorney’s

fees as the prevailing party, and under the statutory authority of
the FLSA allowing for “reasonable attorney's fee to be paid by the
defendant, and costs of the action.”

29 U.S.C. § 216(b).

The

Court finds that plaintiff is a prevailing party, and is entitled
to an award of fees and costs.
A. Attorney Fees
Plaintiff

seeks

an

award

of

$3,203.50

in

attorney

paralegal fees, and $577.91 in costs for a total of $3,781.41.

and
In

support, plaintiff filed a Declaration for Reasonable Attorneys’
Fees (Doc. #18-1, Exh. A). 1

The Declaration details counsel’s

background and experience, and December 2011 through January 2015
hourly rate of $350.00 an hour.

Counsel now operates at a rate

of $425.00 an hour, but is seeking an hourly rate of $350.00 in
this case.

Counsel expended 8.8 hours on the case, and the

paralegal spent a total of 1.3 hours on the case at a rate of
$95.00 an hour.
A reasonable attorney fee is calculated by multiplying the
number of hours reasonably expended by the reasonable hourly rate.
Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 433 (1983).

The party seeking

an award of fees should submit adequate documentation of hours and
rates in support, or the award may be reduced.

1

Id.

In determining

Plaintiff’s counsel also filed a Notice of Filing Amended
Exhibit (Doc. #19) indicating that the attached Affidavit (Doc.
#19-1) was being provided “to correspond with references in the
Motion”, however the Affidavit references a different case and the
numbers do not match the request in the motion.
The Affidavit
will not be considered.

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the reasonable amount of hours, the Court may conduct an hour-byhour analysis or it may reduce the requested hours across the
board, Bivins v. Wrap It Up, Inc., 548 F.3d 1348, 1350 (11th Cir.
2008), and the Court must eliminate excessive, unnecessary, and
redundant hours, Norman v. Housing Auth. of Montgomery, 836 F.2d
1292, 1301-02 (11th Cir. 1988).

A “reasonable hourly rate” is

“the prevailing market rate in the relevant legal community for
similar

services

by

lawyers

experience, and reputation.”

of

reasonably

comparable

skills,

Norman, 836 F.2d at 1299.

The

burden is on the fee applicant “to produce satisfactory evidence”
that the rate is in line with those prevailing in the community.
Blum v. Stenson, 465 U.S. 886, 896 n.11 (1984).

The prevailing

market is the Fort Myers Division of the Middle District of
Florida.

Olesen-Frayne v. Olesen, 2:09-CV-49-FTM-29DNF, 2009 WL

3048451, *2 (M.D. Fla. Sept. 21, 2009).
Having reviewed the attached Time Sheets (Doc. #18-1, Exh. A1), the Court finds that the hours expended are reasonable, and
while the hourly rate may be on the higher end of reasonable fees
in the Fort Myers Division, it is not disputed by defendant.

The

Court will grant $3,203.50 in attorney and paralegal fees as
requested.

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B. Costs
Plaintiff also seeks statutory costs, and expenses.
#18-1, Exh. A-2.)
“costs of

the

(Doc.

The plain text of the FLSA only provides for

action”

to

the

prevailing

party,

which

limits

recovery to those statutory costs listed in 28 U.S.C. § 1821 and
28 U.S.C. § 1920.

Glenn v. Gen. Motors Corp., 841 F.2d 1567, 1575

(11th Cir. 1988).

Counsel claims $31.75 in necessary copying

costs 2, $400 for the filing fee, $36.16 for postage, and $110.00
for service of process 3.

The Court will not allow the copying

costs as plaintiff has failed to explain the necessity of the cost.
The Court will otherwise allow those costs enumerated in 28 U.S.C.
§ 1920, and disallow the expenses for postage, see Gary Brown &
Assocs., Inc. v. Ashdon, Inc., 268 F. App'x 837, 846 (11th Cir.
2008) (expenses for meals, a courier, postage, and lodging are not
included in § 1920).

Therefore, the Court will award a total of

$510.00 in statutory costs.
Accordingly, it is hereby
ORDERED:

2

The motion describes them as “necessary copies”, but no
explanation is provided as to how or why they were necessary for
use in the case. (Doc. #18, p. 3.)
3

The Return of Service (Doc. #11) indicates
server first went to the home of the registered
ultimately located and served the registered
Cleaners of Pelican Landing, Inc., the defendant

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that the process
agent, and then
agent at Class
corporation.

1. Plaintiff's Motion for Reasonable Attorneys' Fees and Costs
(Doc. #18) is GRANTED as set forth above.
2. The

Clerk

shall

enter

an

amended

judgment

granting

attorney’s fees in favor of plaintiff in the amount of
$3,203.50, and statutory costs in the amount of $510.00.
DONE and ORDERED at Fort Myers, Florida, this
of February, 2017.

Copies:
Counsel of Record

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16th

day