Dykes, Jr. et al v. Maverick Motion Picture Group, L.L.C. et al

Filing 149

ORDERED that plaintiff shall be awarded reasonable expenses in the amount of $5,060.00, for the filing of both the motion to compel and the motion for sanctions, and Maverick shall pay this amount within 30 days of the date of this Order. Signed by Magistrate Judge Docia L Dalby on August 11, 2011. (LMS)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
JAY DYKES, JR., ET AL

CIVIL ACTION

VERSUS

NO. 08-536-JJB-DLD

MAVERICK MOTION PICTURE
GROUP, L.L.C., ET AL
ORDER
On June 1, 2011, this court granted plaintiffs' motion for sanctions against Maverick
Films, L.L.C. (“Maverick”) for failure to comply with this court’s January 14, 2011, order (rec.
doc. 115) regarding discovery responses. (rec. doc. 124) The court ordered plaintiffs to
submit itemized evidence of the reasonable expenses and fees incurred in the filing of the
underlying motion to compel and the motion for sanctions, and allowed Maverick to file
objections should it disagree with plaintiffs’ submission. The court specifically provided that
Maverick could indicate its agreement with the expenses and fees by not responding, in
which case the fees and expenses would be deemed reasonable. Maverick has not objected
or otherwise responded to plaintiffs’ submission.
Even though Maverick has agreed that the fees and expenses are reasonable, as the
fee applicant, plaintiff still has the burden of proving the reasonableness of the number of
hours expended on his prevailing claim. Von Clark v. Butler, 916 F.2d 255, 259 (5th Cir.
1990); Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 437, 103 S.Ct. 1933, 1938, 76 L.Ed. 40 (1983)
This burden does not shift to the opposing party “merely because that party does not show
that the hours are unreasonable or that it did not make specific objections to the hours
claimed.” Id.
Plaintiffs submitted “itemized evidence of reasonable expenses” in the form of an
affidavit setting forth names, backgrounds, and hourly rates of all counsel in working on the

motions at issue. The affidavit also contains those entries excerpted from billing statements
which relate to plaintiffs’ motion to compel and motion for sanctions, which show the date,
timekeeper, entry and amount billed. The specificity of the entries describing the work
performed shows that plaintiffs also included entries, for which they requested
reimbursement, for time spent long after the filing of the motion for sanctions, and even after
the court granted the motions, resulting in additional time of 6.2 hours, time which included
conferences/emails with Maverick and time spent reviewing its own billing records and
preparing the affidavit. The court finds that this time was not spent on preparing and filing
either motion, and those fees ( $260.00 x 6.2 = $1,612.00) will be subtracted from the total
requested award of $6,672.00, resulting in a net award of $5,060.00.

Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED that plaintiff shall be awarded reasonable expenses in the amount
of $5,060.00, for the filing of both the motion to compel and the motion for sanctions, and
Maverick shall pay this amount within 30 days of the date of this Order.
Signed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on August 11, 2011.

MAGISTRATE JUDGE DOCIA L. DALBY

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