First Chatham Bank v. Mischler Lawson Development Company, LLC et al

Filing 28

ORDERED that the Clerk enter judgment in favor of the Plaintiff for $485,948.61 and against the defendants Miscshler Lawson, LLC., and William J. Mischler. Signed by Judge B. Avant Edenfield on 3/25/14. (wwp) Modified on 3/26/2014 (wwp).

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
SAVANNAH DIVISION
FIRST CHATHAM BANK,
Plaintiff,
V.

4:13-cv-94

MISCHLER LAWSON DEVELOPMENT
COMPANY, LLC and WILLIAM J.
MISCHLER,

attorney's fees. Compare, e.g., ECF No. 26-2
atl, with id at 8.
The Plaintiff argues that in the absence of a
defined percentage for calculation in the
contract, O.C.G.A. § 13-1-11(a) provides a
definition of reasonable. Id. While the Court
would prefer to award exact fees based on the
lodestar method, as a federal court sitting in
diversity, the Court will apply Georgia
substantive law. Lopez v. Target Corp., 676
F.3d 1230, 1235-36 (11th Cir. 2012).
O.C.G.A. § 13-1-11 states that if a note

Defendants.
ORDER
On February 6, 2014, the Court granted
summary judgment in favor of First Chatham
Bank on a claim of breach of a promissory note
contract. ECF No. 24. The Court requested
clarification on the damages calculation,
including explicit accounting on the application
of settlement funds from an additional former
defendant. Id. at 2. Plaintiff has provided the
Court with a satisfactory accounting, ECF No.
25.
The accounting shows a total outstanding
balance on the accounts of $441,748.73. ECF
Nos. 25-1 at 5-6; 25-2 at 2; 25-3 at 2. This
includes the application of a $125,000
settlement with former defendant Chris
Lawson. ECF No. 25-2 at 8.
The Plaintiff also claims attorney's fees
pursuant to the promissory note contract. The
Plaintiff initially requested exactly 15% of the
total outstanding balance, ECF No. 25 at 1, but
has since amended its request to align with
Georgia statute. ECF No. 27 at 2. The notes at
issue here contain conflicting language on
whether reasonable attorney's fees should be
awarded or a fixed 15% should be awarded for

provides for the payment of reasonable
attorney's fees without specifying any
specific percent, such provision shall be
construed to mean 15 percent of the first
$500.00 of principal and interest owing
on such note or other evidence of
indebtedness and 10 percent of the
amount of principal and interest owing
thereon in excess of $500.00.
The calculation of attorney's fees pursuant to
this statute, given an outstanding balance of
is
$441,748.73,
($500.00 x 15%) +
(($441,748.73 - $500.00) x 10%) =
$44,199.88. Adding this amount to the
principal, the total award shall be $485,948.61,'
and the Court ORDERS the Clerk to enter
judgment in favor of Plaintiff for this amount.
This

ay of March 2014.

B' AV7NT E1DENFIELD, YDGE 7
UNITED STATES DIST*CT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA

Plaintiff has a small discrepancy in its brief, ECF No.
27 at 3, because it completes its calculation with
8441,748.33 as the balance on the notes.