Lakeview Cheese Company, LLC v Nelson-Ricks Creamery Co et al

Filing 58

MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER. IT IS ORDERED that Plaintiff Lakeview Cheese Company's Application for Attorney Fees (Dkt. 54 ) is GRANTED. Greenberg shall pay Lakeview $7,361.00 in attorney fees. Signed by Judge B. Lynn Winmill. (caused to be mailed to non Registered Participants at the addresses listed on the Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF) by (cjs)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF IDAHO LAKEVIEW CHEESE COMPANY, LLC, a Nevada corporation, Case No. 4:13-cv-00361-BLW MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER Plaintiff, v. NELSON-RICKS CREAMERY COMPANY, a Utah corporation; NELSONRICKS CHEESE COMPANY, INC., an Idaho corporation; and GREENBERG CHEESE COMPANY, a California corporation, Defendants. Before the Court is Plaintiff Lakeview Cheese Company’s Application for Attorney Fees (Dkt. 54). For the reasons set forth below, the Court will award Lakeview the requested attorney fees in the amount of $7,361.00. ANALYSIS Lakeview and Defendants Greenberg Cheese Company and Nelson-Ricks Cheese MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER - 1 Company, Inc. (collectively “Greenberg”) entered into a General Release and Settlement Agreement to resolve their disputes. As part of the settlement, Greenberg agreed to the entry of a permanent injunction, to release the surety bond, and to make four monthly payments of $10,000 for a total payment of $40,000 to Lakeview in exchange for Lakeview’s releasing its claims. The first payment was due on April 1, 2014, but Greenberg never paid. To make Greenberg perform, Lakeview filed a motion to enforce the settlement agreement, which the Greenberg did not oppose, and the Court granted on August 21, 2014. Memorandum Decision and Order, Dkt. 53. The Court also granted Lakeview’s request for attorney fees incurred in enforcing the settlement agreement. To that end, the Court directed Lakeview to submit an affidavit detailing the costs and fees incurred in enforcing the settlement. Lakeview submitted such an affidavit, requesting $7,361.00 in attorney fees. Greenberg has now reemerged to oppose the request. It argues that a more reasonable fee to be awarded Lakeview is $2,560.00. Specifically, Greenberg maintains that Lakeview’s counsel “overstaffed” this “simple legal matter[] with multiple senior members of law firm charging top-of-the market hourly rates.” Greenberg’s Resp. Br. at 6, Dkt. 55. The starting point for determining a reasonable attorney fee is the “lodestar” figure, which is the number of hours reasonably expended multiplied by a reasonable hourly rate. Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424,433 (1983). MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER - 2 The Court has reviewed the cost bill and finds the hours Lakeview’s counsel expended in enforcing the settlement agreement was reasonable. Greenberg argues that Lakeview’s attorneys, Scott Randolph and Brett Foster, spent an excessive amount of time “supervising” the work of Ted Murdock, a lawyer with 16 years of litigation experience. But the Court reads the time entries differently than Greenberg. Based on the Court’s review, Mr. Randolph and Mr. Foster spent the majority of their time communicating with their client and with opposing counsel in attempt to enforce the settlement agreement without filing a motion. It does appear Mr. Randolph spent a little time providing background to Mr. Murdock about the case and reviewing the motion to enforce the settlement agreement, which Mr. Murdock researched and drafted, but the Court does not believe it was an unreasonable amount of time and likely saved Mr. Murdock time in the long run. Likewise, the Court finds the hourly rates are reasonable. The Court must determine a reasonable hourly rate by considering the experience, skill and reputation of the attorneys requesting fees. See Schwarz v. Secretary of Health and Human Services, 73 F.3d 895, 906 (9th Cir. 1995). “A district court should calculate this reasonable hourly rate according to the prevailing market rates in the relevant community, which typically is the community in which the district court sits.” Id. (internal quotations and citations omitted). The relevant community in this case is Boise, Idaho, where this Court sits. Here, Greenberg does not argue that the hourly rates charged exceed the prevailing market rates based on each attorney’s experience, skill, and reputation. Instead, MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER - 3 Greenbe argues th the mot erg hat tion to enfor the settl rce lement agre eement was not complex, s and ther refore the ho ourly rate sh hould be re educed to $3 an hour But the re 320 r. easonablene ess of the ra does not depend on the comple ate t exity of an i isolated mo otion, and th Court wi he ill therefore not adjust the attorne rates be e t eys’ ecause the m motion was simple. s Accordingly the Court finds that Lakeview’s requested fee award $ A y, L s $7,361.00 is s reasonab ble ORDER O IT IS ORDE T ERED that Plaintiff Lakeview Cheese Com t L mpany’s App plication for Attorney Fees (Dkt 54) is GR y t. RANTED. Greenberg sh pay La G hall akeview $7, ,361.00 in attorney fees. y DAT TED: Febru uary 23, 20 015 __________ __________ _____ ___ B. L Lynn Winm mill Chief Judge ited District Cou urt Uni States D MEMORA ANDUM DECI ISION AND ORDER - 4 R

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