Brasseaux v. Allied Interstate, Inc.

Filing 29

ORDER: ADOPTING 28 Report and Recommendations, Granting 13 Motion for Attorney Fees filed by Barbara Brasseaux. For the reasons stated herein, the Court adopts the Report in its entirety. Plaintiff's motion [dkt. no. 13] is GRANTED and the Clerk of the Court is respectfully requested to enter judgment for Plaintiff in the amount of $4,384. (Signed by Judge Loretta A. Preska on 3/11/2013) (djc) Modified on 3/14/2013 (djc).

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

-------x
BARBARA BRASSEAUX,

12 Civ. 1323 (LAP)
Plaintiff,
ORDER

v.

ALLIED INTERSTATE, INC.,
Defendant.

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LORETTA A. PRESKA, Chief United States District Judge:
On May 25, 2012, Plaintiff filed a motion seeking
attorneys' fees and costs incurred in connection with
Plaintiff's action brought under the Fair Debt Collection
Practices Act, 15 U.S.C.

§

1692,

("FDCPA").

Plaintiff

has accepted a modest offer of judgment made by Allied
Interstate, Inc.

The offer of judgment included reasonable

costs and attorneys' fees.

Plaintiff seeks $7,518 in fees and

costs.
The Court referred the attorneys' fees motion to Magistrate
Judge Freeman, who issued a Report and Recommendation on January
30, 2013 (the "Report") which considered and assessed the
detailed time records provided by the Kimmel Firm.

The Report

recommended that Plaintiff be awarded $4,034 in fees and $350 in
costs, for a total award of $4,384.

(Report at 30.)

The Report

advised that the parties shall have fourteen days from service

of the Report to file written objections.
submitted any objections to the Report.

Neither party
For the reasons set

forth below, the Court adopts the Report in its entirety.
A district court may adopt portions of a magistrate's
report to which "no specific, written objection" is made, as
long as those sections are not clearly erroneous.
Fed.R.Civ.p. 72 b

i

See

Thomas v. Arn, 474 U.S. 140, 149 (1985).

A

district judge may accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in
part, the findings and recommendation of the magistrate.

See

DeLuca v. Lord, 858 F.Supp. 1330, 1345 (S.D.N.Y. 1994).
The Report is not clearly erroneous.

Magistrate Judge

Freeman's determinations are supported by the law and the record
in all material respects.

Magistrate Judge Freeman used the

"lodestar" method, which is arrived at by multiplying "the
number of hours reasonably expended on the litigation

by a

reasonable hourly rate," Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424
(1983), to evaluate Plaintiff's request for attorneys' fees and
costs and modified the requested amount from $7,518 to $4,384.
For the reasons stated herein, the Court adopts the Report
in its entirety.

2

Plaintiff's motion [dkt. no. 13] is GRANTED and the Clerk
of the Court is respectfully requested to enter judgment for
Plaintiff in the amount of $4,384.
SO ORDERED.

Dated:

New York, New York
March

JL,

2013

LORETTA A. PRESKA,
CHIEF U.S.D.J.

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