Baptista v. Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company et al

Filing 43

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER: For the reasons stated within the instant order, the request for attorney's fees and costs for the period between January 1, 2012 to conclusion of this case is GRANTED as specified, and DENIED otherwise; and the motion for reimbursement of expenses for the same time period is GRANTED. So Ordered by Chief Judge Mary M Lisi on 4/3/2012. (Duhamel, John)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF RHODE ISLAND
NANCY A. BAPTISTA, individually and on
behalf of all others similarly situated,
Plaintiffs
v.

C.A. No. 010-467-ML

MUTUAL OF OMAHA INSURANCE
COMPANY, UNITED OF OMAHA LIFE
INSURANCE COMPANY and DOES 1
through 100, inclusive,
Defendants

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
This ERISA case,
beneficiaries

brought on November 17,

2010 on behalf of

under certain employee benefit plans

administered by

the

defendants,

settlement on March 14,

2012.

was

approved

for

insured and
class

action

Baptista v. Mutual of Omaha Ins.

Co., C.A. No. 010-467-ML, 2012 WL 896181

(D.R.I. March 14, 2010).

In addition to granting final approval of the settlement, the Court
granted class counsel's request for reimbursement of actual costs
of $10,132.91 incurred through December 31, 2011, and it awarded an
incentive

award

of

$2,000

to

the

named

plaintiff

for

her

applied

the

participation in this litigation.
With

respect

to

attorneys'

fees,

the

Court

lodestar approach 1 to determine reasonable compensation of class
counsel for

the actual work performed in this

litigation.

The

See e.g. In re Thirteen Appeals Arising Out of San Juan Dupont
Plaza Hotel Fire Litig., 56 F.3d 295, 307 (1st Cir. 1995).
1

Court approved attorney's fees of $358,807.75 for work performed
through

December

31,

reimbursement

of

$10,132.91 for actual costs incurred in the same time period.

At

that time,

class

additional

$50,550

2011,

together

with

counsel anticipated that they would incur an
in

attorney's

fees,

bringing

the

total

of

requested attorneys' fees and costs (under the lodestar approach)
to $419,490.66.
For reasons set forth in detail in the Memorandum and Order,
the

Court approved the

affidavits

and

billing

requested attorneys'
records,

but

fees

declined

supported by

class

counsel's

request to multiply the lodestar figures by applying a 1. 55 factor.
Baptista v. Mutual of Omaha Ins. Co., 2012 WL 896181 at *5 through
*7.

The Court also advised class counsel to provide "detailed

information

for

any

work

performed

after

January

1,

2012

in

bringing this case to completion." Id. at *7.
On

March

declarations

19,
and

2012,

class

billing

counsel

records,

submitted

requesting

supplemental

an

additional

$67,062.50 for work performed from January 1, 2012 to March 15,
2012,

bringing

$425,870.25.

the
In

total

addition,

of

requested

counsel

attorneys'

requested

fees

reimbursement

to
of

additional expense of $1,901.08 for costs expended in the same time
period, bringing the expense total to $12,033.99.
A review of the submitted supplemental time and expense sheets
for class counsel indicates that a significant number of the time

2

entries deal with fee-related work and that counsel, for the most
part, applied their considerable hourly rates (ranging from $425 to
$525 per hour)

to

such work.

Although time

spent on

seeking

attorneys' fees is generally compensable, it may be compensated at
a lower rate.

The First Circuit has repeatedly held that "time

reasonably expended in connection with fee applications is itself
compensable

. but,

since time spent in this exercise often

amounts to little more than 'documenting what a lawyer did and why
he or she did it,'
rate."

. it may fairly be compensated at a reduced

Brewster v. Dukakis, 3 F.3d 488, 494 (1st Cir. 1993) (citing

Lund v. Affleck, 587 F.2d 75, 77 (1st Cir. 1978)) (quoting Gabriele
v. Southworth, 712 F.2d 1505, 1507 (1st Cir. 1983)).
As
instant

noted in the March 14,
case

was

settled

2012 Memorandum and Order,

within

weeks

of

filing

the

the

initial

complaint and was concluded without any significant discovery.
Baptista

at

*6.

By

September

30,

2011,

the

Court

had

preliminarily approved the proposed settlement and the notice to
the settlement class

(Docket #30).

By December 31,

2011,

counsel had logged a total of 762 hours in this case,
billable rates between $425 and $525 per hour.

class

asserting

In light of the

foregoing, and in consideration of the First Circuit's holding in
Brewster v.

Dukakis,

the Court finds

that,

in

this

case,

work

related to supporting a request for attorney's fees is reasonably
compensated at $200/hour.

3

(1) Barrett and Associates seek compensation for 53.4 hours at
$525/hour for attorney's fees and 7.6 hours at $150/hour for work
performed by a paralegal.

Class counsel assessed 27.5 hours for

work

which

on

final

documents,

includes

the

counsel's application for attorneys' fees.

brief

supporting

The Court notes that

the memorandum in support of the application for attorney's fees
was of nearly equal length to the supporting memorandum for final
approval of this class action settlement.

Therefore,

12 of the

27.5 hours spent on preparing final documents will be compensated
at $200 per hour.

The request for compensation of paralegal fees

is granted in full.
fees of $25,275
$200/hour
(2)

Barrett and Associates are awarded attorney's

(41.4 hours at $525/hour = $21,735 + 12 hours at

= $2,400, plus $1,140 in paralegal fees).
Jeffrey G. Casurella seeks compensation for 32 hours at

$525/hour for attorney fees.

The time entries indicate that, of

those 32 hours, 22.3 hours relate, at least in part, to researching
and editing the fee brief. Therefore, ten of the 22.3 hours will be
compensated at $200 per hour.

The total amount awarded to this

counsel is $13,550 (22 hours at $525/hour
$200/hour

=

= $11,550 + 10 hours at

$2, 000).

(3) John Bell seeks compensation for 30.6 hours at $525/hour,
of which at least 5. 5 hours are fee-related,

and 2. 7 hours at

$425/hour for associate counsel, of which at least 1.8 hours are
fee-related.

Attorney

Bell

is

awarded

4

fees

in

the

amount

of

$14,277.50 (25.1 hours at $525

=

$13,177.50 + 5.5 hours at $200

=

$1,100), plus fees for associate counsel of$ 742.50(0.9 hours at
$425

=

$382.50 + 1.8 hours at $200

=

$360), for a total of $15,020.

(4) Stephen Linder seeks compensation for seven hours of his
time at $485/hour and 3.2 hours for paralegal work. Because the
time expended on the finalization of this case was reasonable and
it appears

that any fee-related work was performed by a

legal

assistant at a rate of $150/hour, the Court grants the request for
attorney's fees of $3,875.00.
With respect to reimbursement of additional expenses in the
amount of $1,901. 08,
supporting records,

the Court

finds

that,

upon

those expenses are reasonable,

review of the
and they are

awarded in full.
Conclusion

For the reasons stated above, the request for attorney's fees
and costs for the period between January 1, 2012 to conclusion of
this case is GRANTED as specified herein, and DENIED otherwise; and
the motion for reimbursement of expenses for the same time period
is GRANTED.

SO ORDERED.
/s/Mary M. Lisi
Mary M. Lisi
Chief United States District Judge
April 3, 2012
5