Levesque et al v. Government Employees Insurance Company

Filing 396

ORDER ADOPTING 394 REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS; FINAL JUDGMENT on Attorney Fees. Fees awarded to Deirdre Levesque and Timothy Levesque against Government Employees Insurance Company. Signed by Judge Kenneth A. Marra on 6/2/2021. See attached document for full details. (ir)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
CASE NO. 15-CV-14005-MARRA

DEIRDRE LEVESQUE AND
TIMOTHY LEVESQUE,
Plaintiffs,
vs.
GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES INSURANCE
COMPANY (GEICO),
Defendant.
__________________________/
ORDER ADOPTING MAGISTRATE JUDGE=S REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
ASSESSING REASONABLE ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND COSTS FOR PLAINTIFFS
AND
FINAL JUDGMENT AWARDING ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND COSTS
THIS CAUSE is before the Court following remand from the Eleventh Circuit Court of
Appeals for a determination of “the amount of any reasonable attorneys’ fees the Levesques incurred
in their initial [underlying UM/UMI] suit.” Levesque v. GEICO, 827 Fed. Appx. 670, 2020 WL
2781408, at *4 (11th Cir. 2020). By Order entered October 1, 2020, this Court previously found the
Plaintiffs entitled to recovery of “reasonable attorney fees” incurred in the underlying UM/UMI case
over a designated span of time as an element of damage in the instant bad faith case, and referred the
matter to the Magistrate Judge for a report and recommendation as to the amount of reasonable
attorney fees and costs so incurred by Plaintiffs [DE 370]. The Court thereafter denied the
Defendant’s Motion for Reconsideration of that Order [DE 391].

On May 11, 2021, Magistrate Judge Shaniek Maynard entered her Report and
Recommendations on the issues [DE 394], and on May 25, 2021 Defendant GEICO filed its
Objections to the Report and Recommendations [DE 395]. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §636(b)(1) and
Fed. R. Civ. P 72(b), the Court has reviewed de novo those portions of the Magistrate Judge’s Report
and Recommendation as to which objection has been lodged.
Following careful review of the Magistrate Judge’s Report and consideration of GEICO’s
objections to that Report, the Court finds the resolution of the issues as recommended by the
Magistrate Judge to be sound and well-reasoned. The Court accordingly approves and adopts the
Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation [DE 394] in full.
It is accordingly ORDERED and ADJUDGED:
1.

Defendant’s Objections to the Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation as to
the amount of a reasonable fee and cost award [DE 395] are OVERRULED.

2.

The Report and Recommendation of Magistrate Judge Shaniek Maynard [DE 394] is
APPROVED AND ADOPTED in full.

3.

Plaintiffs are awarded attorneys’ fees in the amount of $94,542.50, and costs and
litigation expenses in the amount of $2,465.54, for a TOTAL AWARD of
$97,008.04, which shall bear post-judgment interest at the rate of .05 (U.S.
Government securities – Treasury constant maturities- 1 -year rate effective June 2,
2021) ( $0.13 daily interest amount), for which let execution issue..

DONE and SIGNED in Chambers at West Palm Beach, Florida this 2nd day of
June, 2021.

KENNETH A. MARRA
United States District Judge

Copies furnished to:
All counsel