Rhines v. Salinas Construction Technologies, LTD.

Filing 62

ORDER ON PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR ATTORNEY'S FEES AND COSTS granting in part and denying in part 54 Motion for Judgment. The Court awards Plaintiff $36,150.00 in attorneys fees, in addition to court costs, following the proper submission of a bill of costs to the Clerk of the Court. (Signed by Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos) Parties notified.(mserpa, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
CORPUS CHRISTI DIVISION
DEXTER C. RHINES,
Plaintiff,
v.
SALINAS CONSTRUCTION
TECHNOLOGIES, LTD.,
Defendant.

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CIVIL ACTION NO. 2:11-CV-00262

ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR ATTORNEY’S FEES AND COSTS

Before the Court is Plaintiff Dexter Rhines’ motion for attorney’s fees and costs.
(D.E. 54.)

Plaintiff requests $36,150.00 in attorney’s fees and $1,349.81 in court costs.

Defendant objects to the requested award of attorney’s fees and costs on several grounds.
(D.E. 55.) For the reasons set forth below, Plaintiff’s motion is GRANTED IN PART AND
DENIED IN PART.
In any suit brought pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Court, in its
discretion, may award the prevailing party reasonable attorney’s fees. 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(k).
Under Fifth Circuit law, reasonable attorney’s fees are calculated through a two-step process
called the lodestar method. La. Power & Light Co. v. Kellstrom, 50 F.3d 319, 323–24 (5th Cir.
1995). As a preliminary step, the district court must determine the reasonable number of hours
expended by the attorney and the reasonable hourly rate for the attorney. With this, the lodestar
amount is calculated by multiplying the reasonable number of hours by the reasonable hourly
rate. Id. at 324. The lodestar amount may then be adjusted up or down based on the twelve

factors set forth in Johnson v. Georgia Highway Express, Inc., 488 F.2d 714, 717–19 (5th Cir.
1974). Saizan v. Delta Concrete Prods. Co., Inc., 448 F.3d 795, 800 (5th Cir. 2006).
Using this method, Plaintiff calculated a lodestar amount of $36,200.00 (144.8 hours x
$250/hour). (D.E. 54 at 5.) Plaintiff does not request that the Court apply a lodestar factor to this
amount. Analyzing the Johnson factors, Defendant requests that the Court deny any award of
attorney’s fees. (D.E. 55 at 8–12.)
The Court finds that Plaintiff is the prevailing party and entitled to an award of attorney’s
fees. The Court reduces Plaintiff’s submitted hours by 0.2 hours.1 Otherwise, the Court finds
that the timesheets submitted by Plaintiff accurately reflect the time and labor required to
represent the client. The Court finds that there was nothing particularly undesirable about this
case. There were no novel or difficult legal issues requiring counsel to expend substantial hours
of research and investigation not billed to the client. Plaintiff’s counsel was not precluded from
accepting other employment, and the trial lasted only two days. Furthermore, with regard to the
fee charged, the Court finds that $250 per hour is reasonable and within the range of customary
fees charged by someone in this field and in this geographic area with similar experience. The
Court therefore calculates a lodestar amount of $36,150.00 (144.6 hours x $250/hour).
Neither party specifically requests the imposition of a lodestar factor. Defendant argues
that the damages awarded are considerably less than the damages sought, and the Court should
consider this factor in awarding attorney’s fees and reduce them accordingly. (D.E. 55 at 11.)
Notwithstanding, a fee award need not be proportional to the plaintiff’s recovery, only
reasonable in light of all the factors. La. Power & Light Co. v. Kellstrom, 50 F.3d 319, 330 n. 23

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Plaintiff’s timesheets indicate that on May 30, 2012 counsel billed 0.2 hours to “draft correspondence to
court reporter regarding original executed deposition transcript of Dexter Rhines.” Defendant asserted that the
original deposition was never returned, and therefore, these hours were incorrectly billed. Plaintiff’s counsel did not
dispute the matter and consented to a reduction in the hours billed by 0.2 hours.

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(5th Cir. 1995). After considering all the Johnson factors, the Court finds that the lodestar
amount represents a reasonable award of attorney’s fees in the case at hand. Accordingly, the
Court declines to impose a lodestar factor.
Plaintiff’s motion for attorney’s fees and costs (D.E. 54) is GRANTED IN PART AND
DENIED IN PART. The Court award’s Plaintiff $36,150.00 in attorney’s fees, in addition to
court costs, following the proper submission of a bill of costs to the Clerk of the Court.

ORDERED this 5th day of February 2013.

__________________________________
NELVA GONZALES RAMOS
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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