Neville v. McCaghren

Filing 83

ORDER finding the fees sought by Ms. Cox and Mr. Lavoie to be reasonable in both time spent and rate charged re [81-1] Affidavit of Susan W. Cox; therefore, attorneys' fees in the amount of $1,750.00 are awarded to Defendant for her expenses incurred as a result of the Rule 11 motion for sanctions. Signed by Chief Judge J. Randal Hall on 03/07/2019. (jlh)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
STATESBORO DIVISION
*

ROBERT NEVILLE,

*
*

Plaintiff,

*

*

V.

CV 617-075

■k
*

ELIZABETH C. MCCAGHREN,

*

Defendant.

*
*

ORDER

On January

3,

2019,

the Court

entered an Order

imposing

sanctions on Plaintiff Robert Neville for engaging ^^in a systematic

pattern of harassment" of Defendant Elizabeth McCaghren and her
counsel and for ignoring the Court's instructions by repeatedly

filing frivolous motions.
16.)

The

sanctions.

Court

also

(Order of Jan. 3, 2019, Doc. 78, at 15-

granted

(Id. at 15 n.6. )

in

part

Defendant's

motion

for

Defendant sought attorney's fees and

costs incurred over multiple lawsuits between her and Plaintiff,
but the Court found that request to be too broad under Federal
Rule of Civil Procedure 11(c) (2) .

(Id. )

Instead,

Defendant was

invited to submit a statement of attorney's fees and costs incurred
in connection with her Rule 11 motion for sanctions.

Defendant

has

$1,750.00 in fees.

now

filed

an

itemized

affidavit

requesting

(Aff. of Susan W. Cox ('^Cox Aff.") ,

Doc.

81-

1, ^ 11.)

That total represents 7.5 hours billed by Andrew Lavoie

at a rate of $225.00 per hour and 0.25 hours billed by Susan Cox

at a rate of $250.00 per hour. (Id. If 4, 7-11.)

Plaintiff has

not responded or objected to Ms. Cox's affidavit, despite being
provided an opportunity to do so.

(See Order of Jan. 3, 2019, at

17.)

A court may award attorney's fees solely by looking to the
record.

Norman v. Hous. Auth. of City of Montgomery, 836 F.2d

1292, 1303 (11th Cir. 1988).

To set the amount of recoverable

attorney's fees, the Court must first determine a lodestar, which
is calculated ^^by multiplication of a reasonable hourly rate times
hours reasonably expended."

Id. at 1302.

"A reasonable hourly

rate is the prevailing market rate in the relevant legal community
for similar services by lawyers of reasonably comparable skills,

experience, and reputation." Id. at 1299 (citing Blum v. Stenson,
465 U.S. 886, 895-96 n.ll (1984)).

Reasonable hours are presented

when the fee applicant exercises ''billing judgment" and excludes

any "'excessive, redundant or otherwise unnecessary' hours" from
the amount sought.

Id. at 1301 (quoting Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461

U.S. 424, 434-37 (1983)).

Turning to the case at hand, the Court has previously approved
the same or higher billing rate as reasonable in the Augusta and

Savannah legal markets. See, e.g.. Plumbers and Steamfitters Local
No. 150 V. Muns Grp., Inc., CV 115-200, Doc. 37 (S.D. Ga. Mar. 22,

2017) (setting $300.00 per hour as reasonable billing rate in

Augusta); Savannah-Chatham Cnty. Fair Hous. Council v. Alvin L.
Davis, Inc., 2007 WL 1288130, at *5 (S.D. Ga. Apr. 30, 2007)

(finding $250.00 is reasonable hourly rate in Savannah area).
Further, the hours expended were not excessive and relate only to

defense counsel's time spent working on the motion for sanctions,
as required by Rule 11.
may

award

to

the

See Fed. R. Civ. P. 11(c)(2) ("[T]he court

prevailing

party

the

reasonable

expenses,

including attorney's fees, incurred for the motion.")

Finally,

defense counsel's efforts achieved a positive result for Defendant

by winning the motion for sanctions and preventing Plaintiff from
continuing to harass Defendant with frivolous motions. See Norman,
836 F.2d at 1302 ("If the result was excellent, then the court

should compensate for all hours reasonably expended.")
Based on the foregoing, the Court finds the fees sought by
Ms. Cox and Mr. Lavoie to be reasonable in both time spent and

rate

charged.

Therefore,

attorneys'

fees

in

the

amount

of

$1,750.00 are AWARDED to Defendant for her expenses incurred as a
result of the Rule 11 motion for sanctions.

ORDER ENTERED at Augusta, Georgia, this "7^ day of March,
2019.

J. RAI7DAL HALL, CHIEF JUDGE
STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN

DISTRICT OF GEORGIA