Diversified Golf LLC v. Trans World Commercial & Equity LLC et al

Filing 37

ORDER re 35 Request for Attorney's Fees filed by Diversified Golf LLC. Ordered by Judge Clay D. Land on 06/12/2012. (CGC)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
ATHENS DIVISION
DIVERSIFIED GOLF LLC,

*

Plaintiff,

*

vs.

*

TRANS WORLD COMMERCIAL &
EQUITY, LLC, et al.,

*

CASE NO. 3:11-CV-44 (CDL)
*
Defendants.
*
O R D E R
Plaintiff

Diversified

Golf

LLC

(“Diversified”)

filed

a

Motion to Compel Defendant Jane Boyles (“Boyles”) to comply with
her post-judgment discovery obligations, and the Court granted
that motion.

Diversified Golf LLC v. Trans World Commercial &

Equity, LLC, No. 3:11-CV-44(CDL), 2012 WL 1673166, at *4 (M.D.
Ga.

May

14,

2012).

Under

Federal

Rule

of

Civil

Procedure

37(a)(5), if a motion to compel discovery responses is granted,
the

Court

“must,

after

giving

an

opportunity

to

be

heard,

require the party . . . whose conduct necessitated the motion
. . . to pay the movant’s reasonable expenses incurred in making
the

motion,

including

attorney’s

fees.”

Fed.

R.

Civ.

P.

37(a)(5); accord Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(d)(3) (stating that a court
“must

require”

respond

to

a

the

party

request

for

failing

to

inspection

attend
“to

a

pay

deposition
the

or

reasonable

expenses, including attorney’s fees, caused by the failure”).

Diversified seeks to recover fees and expenses associated with
its Motion to Compel in the amount of $6,231.00.

Boyles does

not challenge Diversified’s entitlement to attorney’s fees, but
she does assert that the fees claimed are excessive.
In support of its request for attorney’s fees, Diversified
submitted the affidavit of its attorney, which details the fees
and

expenses

Compel.
claims

Diversified

incurred

in

bringing

its

See generally Ratchick Aff., ECF No. 35.
$3,884.00

in

attorney’s

fees

and

Motion

to

Diversified

$306.00

in

court

reporter expenses incurred in traveling to and from Boyles’s
deposition,
dispute

which

that

Boyles

did

not

attend.

Diversified

may

reasonably

Boyles

recover

does

the

not

$306.00

court reporter expenses, and the Court therefore awards that
amount

to

Diversified.

Boyles

also

does

not

dispute

that

Diversified may reasonably recover attorney’s fees associated
with

her

failure

to

attend

the

deposition,

but

Boyles

does

contend that it is unreasonable for her to pay for two attorneys
to attend the post-judgment deposition.
Boyles.

Only

deposition.

one

attorney

was

The Court agrees with

necessary

to

take

Boyles’s

The Court therefore awards Diversified $1,349.00 in

attorney’s fees related to Boyles’s deposition.

This represents

7.1 hours of attorney Drew Greene’s time at a rate of $190.00
per hour; Boyles does not challenge Greene’s hourly rate.

2

Diversified
related

to

also

drafting

claims
and

$2,041.00

filing

the

in

attorney’s

Motion

to

fees

Compel.

Specifically, Diversified claims that a junior attorney, Drew
Greene, spent 9.1 hours drafting the motion at an hourly rate of
$190.00 and that a senior attorney, Scott Ratchick, spent 0.8
hours reviewing the motion at an hourly rate of $390.00 per
hour.

Boyles does not challenge Ratchick’s time or hourly rate

related to the Motion to Compel, and the Court therefore awards
Diversified $312.00 for Ratchick’s time on the motion.

Boyles

does contend that it was excessive for Greene to spend 9.1 hours
drafting a short motion to compel.

The Court cannot conclude

that 9.1 hours is clearly excessive, and the Court therefore
awards Diversified $1,729.00 for Greene’s time on the motion.
CONCLUSION
For

the

foregoing

reasons,

the

Court

concludes

that

Diversified may recover from Boyles attorney’s fees and expenses
in the amount of $3,696.00: $306.00 in court reporter expenses,
$1,349.00
$312.00

for

for

Greene’s

time

related

Ratchick’s

time

on

the

to

Boyles’s

Motion

to

deposition,
Compel,

and

$1,729.00 for Greene’s time on the Motion to Compel.

IT IS SO ORDERED, this 12th day of June, 2012.
S/Clay D. Land
CLAY D. LAND
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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