Cornwall Management Ltd. v. Thor United Corp.
Filing
47
MEMORANDUM ORDER granting 38 Motion Discretionary Allowance. For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiff's Motion for Discretionary Allowance is granted, and Plaintiff is granted a discretionary award of $9,950.00. Plaintiffs are directed to su bmit a proposed Judgment consistent with this Order to the Orders and Judgments Clerk of this Court by August 5, 2013. Defendant may submit any objections to the proposed Judgment on or before August 12, 2013. This Order resolves docket entry no. 38. (Signed by Judge Laura Taylor Swain on 7/31/2013) (ft)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
-------------------------------------------------------x
CORNWALL MANAGEMENT LTD.,
Plaintiff,
-v-
No. 12 Civ. 8237 (LTS)
THOR UNITED CORP.,
Defendant.
-------------------------------------------------------x
MEMORANDUM ORDER
On November 13, 2012, Plaintiff commenced this action for enforcement of a
foreign judgment by the filing of a summons and a notice of motion for summary judgment in
lieu of a complaint. On January 16, 2013, the Court entered an order requiring that Plaintiff file
and serve an amended complaint upon Defendant. Plaintiff filed and served the amended
complaint, which consisted of one cause of action for the enforcement of a foreign judgment.
Defendant did not respond to the amended complaint. On March 14, 2013, Plaintiff moved for
entry of a default judgment against Defendant and, on April 24, 2013, this Court granted
Plaintiff’s motion and judgment was entered in the amount of $2,026,289.21. Plaintiff has now
filed a Motion for Discretionary Allowance pursuant to New York Civil Practice Law and Rules
(“CPLR”) Section 8303(b), Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(d), and S.D.N.Y. Local Rule
54.1, requesting a discretionary award of no more than five percent of the April 24, 2013,
judgment, or $101,314.45. See N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 8303(b) (providing that, on a motion relating to
the enforcement of a judgment, the Court may award to the judgment creditor a sum not
exceeding the greater of five per cent of the judgment or fifty dollars).
CORNW ALL .DISC ALLOW ANCE .W PD
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The Court has broad discretion in determining whether to grant a motion for
discretionary allowance. See David L. Ferstendig, 1-8303 New York Civil Practice: CPLR P
§§ 8303.02 -8303.03 (Matthew Bender 3d ed. 2013) (in determining whether to award a
discretionary additional allowance, “courts have adopted a case-by-case approach, which calls
for examination of the facts, the equities, and the efforts and expenses of each party in a
particular case”). Here, the Court declines to award the maximum requested amount of
$101,314.45 and instead concludes that a more appropriate award is the amount of attorneys’
fees incurred by counsel. See Global Technology, Inc. v. Royal Bank of Canada, 943 N.Y.S.2d
791 (Table), at * 16 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Jan. 11, 2012) (“Conceptually, the allowance authorized by
CPLR 8303(b) is intended to be an indemnity for the expense of the enforcement motion,
including the attorney’s fee.”) (internal quotations omitted).
When awarding attorneys’ fees, the Court calculates “presumptively reasonable”
attorneys’ fees by using the lodestar method and determining reasonable hours worked at a
reasonable hourly rate for any given circumstance. See ArborHill Concerned Citizens
Neighborhood Ass’n v. Cnty. of Albany, 522 F.3d 182, 184 (2d Cir. 2008). Plaintiff asserts that
it has incurred $11,250.00 in attorneys’ fees in connection with this action. Specifically,
Plaintiff asserts that attorney Cherish Thompson worked on the matter for 21 hours at an hourly
rate of $350, and that attorney Jonathan Woodard worked on the matter for 13 hours, at an
hourly rate of $300. The Court finds that the hourly rate requested for Cherish Thompson, a
partner with nine years of experience, is reasonable. See Wong v. Hunda Glass Corp., No. 09
Civ. 4402, 2010 WL 3452417, at *3 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 1, 2010) (hourly rate of $350 reasonable for
attorneys with twelve years of legal experience). However, the hourly rate requested for
Jonathan Woodard, an associate with fewer than two years of experience, is excessive.
CORNW ALL .DISC ALLOW ANCE .W PD
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Accordingly, the Court reduces Mr. Woodard’s compensable hourly rate to $200 per hour. See
Colburn Family Found v. Chabad’s Children of Chernobyl, No. 06 Civ. 2351, 2011 WL
1758639, at *3 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 12, 2011) (hourly rate of $200 reasonable for associate with three
years of experience in default judgment action). The Court finds reasonable the total number of
hours claimed.
For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiff’s Motion for Discretionary Allowance is
granted, and Plaintiff is granted a discretionary award of $9,950.00. Plaintiffs are directed to
submit a proposed Judgment consistent with this Order to the Orders and Judgments Clerk of
this Court by August 5, 2013. Defendant may submit any objections to the proposed Judgment
on or before August 12, 2013. This Order resolves docket entry no. 38.
SO ORDERED.
Dated: New York, New York
July 31, 2013
/S
LAURA TAYLOR SWAIN
United States District Judge
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