LegacyRG, Inc. v. Harter
Filing
54
OPINION on Attorney's Fees. (Signed by Judge Lynn N Hughes) Parties notified. (ghassan, 4)
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
United States District Court
Southern District of Texas
LegacyRG, Inc.,
Plaintiff,
1Jersus
Chris Harter,
Defendant.
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ENTERED
June 30, 2016
David J. Bradley, Clerk
Civil Action H- 14- 1 574
Opinion on Attorney' 5 Fees
I.
Introduction.
A company requests attorney's fees and costs from its former employee for breach of
his employment contract and separation agreement. Attorney's fees will be awarded.
2.
Background.
Chris Harter was the president of LegacyRG, Inc., from 2006 to 2011. During rus
tenure, he altered payroll to collect $123,557.58 extraneous to rus salary. When he resigned,
he received $224,365.23 under a separation agreement that required him to return the stolen
funds; he did not return them. The court ordered Harter to pay Legacy $347,922.81 because
he had breached both agreements and his fiduciary duty to Legacy as its president.
3.
Fee Calculation.
Legacy has asked for its attorney's fees and costs for prosecuting Harter's breach ofrus
employment contract and separation agreement. Harter says it must segregate the time spent
on its fraud and fiduciary duty claims and that its rates are unreasonably high.
A.
Time on Breach of Contract Claim.
The president of a company owes an array of duties to its owners. The most basic of
those duties is not to steal from it. Harter stole from Legacy. Legacy sued to get its money back.
It said that his actions had breached a contract but also pleaded that he breached rus fiduciary
duty not to steal and committed fraud. The factual basis for all the claims was the same: Harter
took money from Legacy that he had no right to take.
Legacy says that it spent twenty percent of its time on its fiduciary duty and fraud claims
and the rest on the facts and its breach of contract claim; it has reduced its fees accordingly.
Harter says Legacy spent more pages of its briefing on its fiduciary duty and fraud claims.
Most of Legacy's fiduciary duty section is spent developing facts that it later uses to
support its breach of contract section. Further, the idea that more pages means more work
belies the reality that a succinct and articulate argument is much harder and more timeconsuming to make than a lengthy one.
Legacy has pleaded that its attorneys spent eighty percent of their time working on its
breach of contract claim. Harter does not introduce credible evidence to the contrary. Legacy
will take eighty percent of its reasonable attorney's fees and costs.
B.
Reasonable Fees.
In determining whether fees are reasonable the court looks to the local market and
considers the: (a) required time and skill; (b) attorneys burdens; (c) customary fee; (d) size of
the demand and award; (e) time constraints; (fj relationship with the client; (g) attorneys'
quality; and (h) whether the fee is fixed or contingent.
This was a fairly straightforward dispute about a contract. It did not abnormally burden
the attorneys by taxing their skill, time, or ability to work on their other cases. The amount
awarded was modest and Legacy's attorneys billed a fixed fee. The attorneys normally bill at
$695.00 per hour and $ 310.00 per hour. The paralegal bills at $ 3 60.00 per hour. These rates
are normal for attorneys of their experience who work for similar firms in Houston, Texas.
These attorneys spent a reasonable amount of time on this case.
Legacy's attorneys say that they audited their billing and costs, excluding any
duplication of efforts. They decreased that amount by twenty percent, accounting for the time
they spent on their other claims. Their fees and costs for the breach of contract claim totaled
$61,7 69. 83.
4.
Conclusion.
Harter owes Legacy's attorney's fees and costs expended to remedy his decision to steal
money, promise to pay it back, and break that promise. Legacy will take $61,769.83 from
Harter. He is fortunate Legacy's efficiency kept costs that low.
Signed on June 30,2016, at Houston, Texas.
Lynn N. Hughes
United States DistrictJudge
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