The Paper Mill Store, Inc. v. Aarbs Paper, Inc. et al

Filing 31

ORDER granting 24 Motion for Attorney Fees. Plaintiff awarded attorney fees in the amount of $2,350.92. Signed by District Judge William M. Conley on 8/11/14. (jat)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN

THE PAPER MILL STORE, INC.,
Plaintiff,

ORDER

v.
14-cv-354-wmc
AARBS PAPER, INC. and DOES 1-10,
Defendants.

The court is in receipt of plaintiff Paper Mill Store, Inc.’s motion for attorney’s fees.
(Dkt. #24.)

By joint motion, defendant Aarbs Paper, Inc. previously agreed to pay

reasonable attorney’s fees in exchange for plaintiff agreeing to file a joint motion to set aside
the entry of default, but the parties disagreed as to a reasonable amount of fees. (Dkt. #21.)
The court, therefore, granted the parties’ motion to set aside the default and directed Paper
Mill Store to submit a motion and accompanying materials in support of its fee request.
(Dkt. #24.)
Plaintiff now moves for an award of $2,614.16 in attorney’s fees, representing 6.83
hours of attorney time and 3.33 hours of paralegal time at hourly rates of $385 for partners,
$285 for associates, and $165 for paralegals. In a declaration submitted in support of the
motion, plaintiff attaches detailed time records and materials supporting its counsel’s hourly
rates. (Declaration of Conor H. Kennedy, Exs. A-C, E-F (dkt. ##25-1 to 25-3, 25-5 to 256).) The declarant further represents that the rates charged are those plaintiff actually pays
counsel for its legal services. (Kennedy Decl., (dkt. #25) ¶ 4.)
As an initial matter, rates regularly changed and paid are presumptively reasonable.
See Balcor Real Estate Holdings, Inc. v. Walentas-Phoenix Corp., 73 F.3d 150, 153 (7th Cir.

1996) (explaining that in requests for attorney’s fees, “the best guarantee of reasonableness is
willingness to pay”). The court has also reviewed plaintiff’s counsel’s time records, and finds
the tasks compensable and the time spent on those tasks reasonable, with one exception:
The court finds time spent by an associate researching plaintiff’s ability to conduct discovery
regarding involvement of third parties after entry of default is too ancillary to plaintiff’s
efforts to obtain default judgment to warrant reimbursement. Accordingly, the court will
deduct one hour of time at the $285 hourly rate from the fee request.
Plaintiff also seeks $21.76 in costs. While plaintiff does not describe the basis of this
request, the court assumes from the time entries that these expenses cover copying and/or
postage. The court finds these costs appropriate as well and will include them in the award
below.

ORDER
IT IS ORDERED that plaintiff The Paper Mill Store, Inc.’s motion for attorney’s fees
(dkt. #24) is GRANTED. Accordingly, the court awards fees and costs in the total amount
of $2,350.92, which shall be paid promptly and, in any event, not later than 30 days after
the date of this order.
Entered this 11th day of August, 2014.
BY THE COURT:
/s/
________________________________________
WILLIAM M. CONLEY
District Judge

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