Johnson v. Mai et al, No. 5:2019cv00827 - Document 67 (N.D. Cal. 2020)
Court Description: ORDER GRANTING IN PART 61 PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR ATTORNEYS' FEES AND COSTS. Signed by Judge Beth Labson Freeman on 11/24/2020. (blflc1S, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 11/24/2020)Any non-CM/ECF Participants have been served by First Class Mail to the addresses of record listed on the Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF)
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Johnson v. Mai et al Doc. 67 Case 5:19-cv-00827-BLF Document 67 Filed 11/24/20 Page 1 of 12 1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 SAN JOSE DIVISION 7 8 SCOTT JOHNSON, Plaintiff, 9 10 United States District Court Northern District of California 11 12 Case No. 19-cv-00827-BLF v. CHI MAI, et al., Defendants. ORDER GRANTING IN PART PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND COSTS [Re: ECF 61] 13 14 Plaintiff Scott Johnson (“Johnson”) brought suit against Defendants Chi Mai, Kim Hang 15 Thi Bui, and Hong Thuy Thi Hoang (collectively, “Defendants”), who are owners and proprietors 16 of Sunflower Nails & Hair in San Jose, CA. See Compl. 1-2, ECF 1. Johnson alleges violations 17 of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“ADA”), 42 U.S.C. § 12101, et seq., 18 and the California Unruh Civil Rights Act (“Unruh Act”), Cal. Civ. Code §§ 51-53. See Compl. 19 6-10. Defendants appeared pro se, filed an answer to the complaint, and have not meaningfully 20 responded to this Court or any filing by Johnson since entering their answer. See Order Mot. 21 Summ. J. 1, ECF 51. The Court granted Johnson’s Motion for Summary Judgment as to his ADA 22 and Unruh Act claims. Id. at 7. 23 Now before the Court is Johnson’s Motion for Attorneys’ Fees and Costs. Mot. Att’ys 24 Fees and Costs (“Mot.”), ECF 61. Defendants did not file an opposition. Pursuant to Civil Local 25 Rule 7-1(b), the Court finds this motion suitable for decision without oral argument and 26 VACATES the hearing scheduled for January 28, 2021. 27 28 For the reasons stated below, this Court GRANTS IN PART Johnson’s Motion for Attorneys’ Fees and Costs. Dockets.Justia.com Case 5:19-cv-00827-BLF Document 67 Filed 11/24/20 Page 2 of 12 1 I. BACKGROUND Johnson is a C-5 quadriplegic who cannot walk, has significant manual dexterity 2 3 impairments, and uses a wheelchair for mobility. Ex. A, Decl. of Scott Johnson ¶ 2 (“Johnson Decl.”), ECF 37-3. On February 15, 2019, Johnson filed his complaint against Defendants. See 4 Compl., ECF 1. Defendants appeared pro se and filed an answer on March 19, 2019. See 5 Answer, ECF 10. They did not appear at the case management conference, see Min. Entry, ECF 6 21, and have not meaningfully responded to this Court or any filing by Johnson since entering 7 their answer. Johnson filed a Motion for Summary Judgment on June 18, 2020. Mot. Summ. J., 8 ECF 51. Johnson prevailed on Motion for Summary Judgment, and this Court issued a judgment 9 in his favor, awarding statutory damages and injunctive relief. Id. 10 Johnson moves this Court to award $20,780.00 in reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs 11 United States District Court Northern District of California pursuant to the ADA (42 U.S.C. § 12205) and the Unruh Act (California Civil Code § 52(a)). 12 Mot. 1, 21-22. Defendants opposed the motion by filing a document stating “We do not accept 13 this offer to contract and we do not consent to these proceedings. Without prejudice, UCC 1-308.” 14 Document Received, ECF 64. Johnson filed a reply, asking the Court to reduce the requested 15 hours worked by up to 6.9 hours and otherwise grant the motion in full. Reply 3, ECF 65. 16 17 18 II. LEGAL STANDARD A. Attorneys’ Fees The ADA gives courts the discretion to award attorneys’ fees to prevailing parties. Molski 19 v. M.J. Cable, Inc., 481 F.3d 724, 730 (9th Cir. 2007) (citing 42 U.S.C. § 12205). Additionally, 20 the Unruh Act provides that “[i]n addition to any damages, injunction, or other equitable relief 21 awarded in an action brought pursuant to [Cal. Civ. Code § 52.1(b)], the court may award the 22 23 petitioner or plaintiff reasonable attorneys’ fees.” Cal. Civ. Code § 52.1(i). When calculating a reasonable award for attorneys’ fees, courts apply a two-step process. 24 Fischer v. SJB-P.D., Inc., 214 F.3d 1115, 1119 (9th Cir. 2000). First, the court applies the 25 “lodestar” method to the facts of each case when calculating awards for attorneys’ fees. Camacho 26 v. Bridgeport Fin., Inc., 523 F.3d 973, 978 (9th Cir. 2008); see also Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 27 U.S. 424, 429 (1983). “The ‘lodestar’ is calculated by multiplying the number of hours the 28 2 Case 5:19-cv-00827-BLF Document 67 Filed 11/24/20 Page 3 of 12 1 prevailing party reasonably expended on the litigation by a reasonable hourly rate.” Morales v. 2 City of San Rafael, 96 F.3d 359, 363 (9th Cir. 1996), opinion amended on denial of reh’g, 108 3 F.3d 981 (9th Cir. 1997) (quotation omitted). Second, the lodestar amount may be further adjusted 4 based on other factors not already subsumed in the initial lodestar calculation. Morales, 96 F.3d at 5 363–64, 363 nn.3–4 (identifying factors) (citing Kerr v. Screen Guild Extras, Inc., 526 F.2d 67, 70 6 (9th Cir. 1975), abrogated on other grounds by City of Burlington v. Dague, 505 U.S. 557 (1992)). 7 The lodestar amount is presumptively reasonable. See Vogel v. Harbor Plaza Center, LLC, 893 8 F.3d 1152, 1161 (9th Cir. 2018). When determining an attorneys’ reasonable hourly rate, courts weigh the “experience, United States District Court Northern District of California 9 10 skill, and reputation of the attorney requesting fees,” and compare the requested rates to prevailing 11 market rates of the relevant community. Chalmers v. City of Los Angeles, 796 F.2d 1205, 1210– 12 11 (9th Cir. 1986), op. am. on denial of reh’g, 808 F.2d 1373 (9th Cir. 1987); see also Blum v. 13 Stenson, 465 U.S. 886, 895 n.11 (1984). The relevant community is typically the forum in which 14 the district court sits. Camacho, 523 F.3d at 979. To determine the prevailing market rate, courts 15 may rely on attorney affidavits as well as “decisions by other courts awarding similar rates for 16 work in the same geographical area by attorneys with comparable levels of experience.” Trujillo 17 v. Orozco, No. 5:17-cv-00566-EJD, 2018 WL 1142311, at *2 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 2, 2018); see also 18 United Steelworkers of Am. v. Phelps Dodge Corp., 896 F.2d 403, 407 (9th Cir. 1990). In 19 addition, the court should exclude hours that were not reasonably expended. See Hensley, 461 20 U.S. at 434. The fee applicant bears the burden of producing evidence, other than declarations of 21 22 interested counsel, that the requested rates are in line with those prevailing in the community for 23 similar services by lawyers of reasonably comparable skill, experience, and reputation. Blum, 465 24 U.S. at 896 n.11. 25 III. 26 DISCUSSION In his motion, Johnson requests attorneys’ fees and costs in the amount of $20,780.00 27 under the ADA and Unruh Act. Mot. 22. Of this amount, $905.00 is for litigation costs. Id. at 21. 28 The remaining $19,875.00 is for 43.1 billed hours based on Johnson’s proposed reasonable billing 3 Case 5:19-cv-00827-BLF Document 67 Filed 11/24/20 Page 4 of 12 1 rates. Billing Summary 9, ECF 61-4. Of these billed hours, 8.0 hours are estimated hours. Id. 2 This estimate accounts for anticipated work to analyze an opposition brief, draft a reply, and 3 attend oral argument. Mot. 16. In his reply, Johnson requests that the Court reduce the 8.0 4 estimated hours to 1.4 estimated hours because Defendants did not file an opposition. Reply 3, 5 ECF 65. The Court now considers whether Johnson’s proposed hourly attorneys’ rates and hours 6 worked are reasonable. 7 United States District Court Northern District of California 8 1. Reasonable Rate The first step is to determine an attorneys’ reasonable hourly rate where the Court must 9 weigh the “experience, skill, and reputation of the attorney requesting fees,” and compare the 10 requested rates to prevailing market rates of the relevant community. Chalmers, 796 F.2d at 11 1210–11; see also Blum, 465 U.S. at 895 n.11 (1984). The relevant community is typically the 12 forum in which the district court sits. Camacho, 523 F.3d at 979. The relevant community here is 13 the Northern District of California. See Gates v. Deukmejian, 987 F.2d 1392, 1405 (9th Cir. 1992) 14 (stating that courts primarily look to the rates of attorneys practicing in the forum district). 15 When determining the prevailing market rate, the Court may rely on attorney affidavits as 16 well as “decisions by other courts awarding similar rates for work in the same geographical area 17 by attorneys with comparable levels of experience.” Trujillo, 2018 WL 1142311, at *2; see also 18 United Steelworkers, 896 F.2d at 407. The applicant bears the burden to produce sufficient 19 evidence that the rates claimed for its attorneys are in line with prevailing market rates. Hensley, 20 461 U.S. at 433. “When a party seeking fees submits declarations, courts must consider those 21 declarations and cannot substitute that analysis by only considering previous fee awards.” Id.; 22 Roberts v. City of Honolulu, 938 F.3d 1020, 1024 (9th Cir. 2019) (relying solely on the rates 23 previously awarded to the applicant is an abuse of discretion, and a full lodestar analysis is 24 required). 25 Here, Johnson seeks hourly rates ranging from $400 to $650. Mot. 13. Johnson relies on 26 the declarations of John O’Connor, an attorneys’ fees expert, and Mark Potter, a partner in the law 27 firm representing Johnson, to support the following hourly rates: 28 4 Case 5:19-cv-00827-BLF Document 67 Filed 11/24/20 Page 5 of 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Attorney R. Handy C. Carson D. Price A. Seabock R. Doyle S. Gunderson I. Masanque P. Price J. McAllister B. Smith J. Zimmerman Requested Hourly Rate $650.00 $500.00 $500.00 $500.00 $450.00 $450.00 $450.00 $450.00 $400.00 $400.00 $400.00 10 United States District Court Northern District of California 11 12 Decl. of Mark Potter ¶¶ 8-18 (“Potter Decl.”), ECF 61-3. Johnson’s counsel submitted declarations to justify these claimed rates. According to 13 O’Connor, attorney Russell Handy (“R. Handy”) has 19 years of disability litigation experience, 14 and litigated over one thousand ADA cases. Decl. of O’Connor ¶ 30(a) (“O’Connor Decl.”), ECF 15 61-5. Attorneys Dennis Price (“D. Price”), Amanda Seabock (“A. Seabock”), and Chris Carson 16 (“C. Carson”) have between 5-7 years of disability litigation experience. Id. at ¶¶ 30(e)-(g). 17 Attorneys Sara Gunderson (“S. Gunderson”) and Bradley Smith (“B. Smith”) have between 1-2 18 years of disability litigation experience and approximately 4-5 years of litigation experience 19 overall. Id. at ¶¶ 30(i), (j). Attorneys Prathima Price (“P. Price”) and Jennifer McAllister (J. 20 McAllister”) have between 7-14 years of litigation experience, but little history of disability 21 litigation experience. See id. at ¶¶ 30(k), (m). According to Potter, attorney Robert Doyle (“R. 22 Doyle”) graduated from law school in 1999; previously represented clients in criminal, family law, 23 and civil litigation; and joined the Center for Disability Access in 2019. Potter Decl. ¶ 15. 24 Attorney Isabel Masanque (“I. Masanque”) joined the Center for Disability Access (CDA) in 25 2012, was admitted to the California bar in 2013, and oversees discovery matters at the CDA. Id. 26 at ¶ 12. Attorney Josie Zimmerman (“J. Zimmerman”) was admitted to the California bar in 2018 27 and joined Potter’s law firm in 2020 to handle discovery related tasks. Id. at ¶ 18. 28 For the following reasons, the Court finds the requested hourly rates unreasonable for the 5 United States District Court Northern District of California Case 5:19-cv-00827-BLF Document 67 Filed 11/24/20 Page 6 of 12 1 work performed in this case. First, the Court is unpersuaded by Johnson’s characterization of 2 what constitutes a reasonable hourly rate for ADA litigators in the Northern District of California. 3 Johnson’s assertion that his counsel should be awarded rates that meet or exceed the rates awarded 4 throughout the state of California is insufficient. Mot. 9-10. Johnson lists several ADA cases in 5 the Northern District of California from 2011 to 2019, highlighting hourly rates ranging from $530 6 to $900. Id. at 11-12. However, Johnson fails to note several important details about the 7 complexity of the ADA litigation in question, for example, experience, relevant expertise, and the 8 nature of the work performed. See Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center v. Ashford 9 Hospitality Trust, Inc., No. 15-CV-00216-DMR, 2016 WL 1177950 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 22, 2016) 10 (approving a rate of $900 for an attorney with over 40 years of practice and a rate of $750 per hour 11 for an attorney with 25 years of experience where both attorneys represented plaintiff in a class- 12 action litigation); Martin v. Diva Hospitality Group, Inc., No. 16-CV-04103-EDL, 2018 WL 13 6710705 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 7, 2018) (approving a rate of $700 for an attorney with 27 years of 14 litigation experience who represented two plaintiffs with different disabilities). 15 The Court is similarly unpersuaded by Johnson’s illustration of the District’s upward 16 trajectory in approved reasonable attorneys’ fees as a basis to justify that the proposed rates are 17 reasonable. Mot. 12-13. Johnson provides a table of attorneys’ fees approved for attorney Celia 18 McGuinness between 2010 and 2018, but does not adequately explain what factors have 19 contributed to that increase. For example, a court determined $495 per hour was a reasonable rate 20 for McGuinness in Hernandez v. Taqueria El Grullense, No. 12-CV-03257-WHO, 2014 WL 21 1724356 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 30, 2014). Three months later, another court found $550 per hour was a 22 reasonable rate for McGuinness in Rodriguez v. Barrita, Inc., 53 F. Supp. 3d 1268 (N.D. Cal. 23 2014). This suggests that McGuinness may have been approved for these different rates because 24 of the nature of the work performed, rather than her length of experience as an ADA litigator. 25 Second, Johnson’s attorneys’ fee expert, O’Connor, is similarly unpersuasive in 26 establishing a reasonable hourly rate in the Northern District of California. O’Connor relies on 27 Shaw v. Five M, LLC, No. 16-CV-03955-BLF, 2017 WL 747465, at *12-13 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 27, 28 2017), in which this Court found that “[i]n the Bay area, ‘reasonable hourly rates for partners 6 Case 5:19-cv-00827-BLF Document 67 Filed 11/24/20 Page 7 of 12 1 range from $560 to $800, for associates from $285 to $510, and for paralegals and litigation 2 support staff from $150 to $240.’” O’Connor Decl. ¶ 26. Based on this estimate and “a variety of 3 factors,” O’Connor “opines that the most appropriate rate for partners’ ADA services range from 4 $450 to $750 per hour, despite recent awards as low as $400 to $425” and that “the most 5 appropriate range for associates’ services [is] $300 to $550 per hour, notwithstanding exceptional 6 awards as low as $250.” Id. at ¶ 27. O’Connor then concludes that Johnson’s requested hourly 7 rates for partners is “clearly reasonable” and the rates for associates “represents the median range 8 of rates, below premium rates and above the lowest level.” Id. To support this assertion, 9 O’Connor relies on his credibility and inconsistencies among rates awarded to attorneys litigating 10 Northern District ADA cases. With respect to O’Connor’s experience, this Court recognizes that while O’Connor has United States District Court Northern District of California 11 12 significant experience with First Amendment litigation and complex attorneys’ fees issues in non- 13 ADA contexts, his ADA expertise is limited to providing attorneys’ fee opinions in approximately 14 ten ADA cases. O’Connor Decl. ¶¶ 17, 20, 23. He attempts to explain why some courts “awarded 15 unreasonably low rates” by applying the Laffey Matrix, a mathematical model that adjusts fees in 16 a case based upon the general inflation rate. Id. ¶¶ 43-44. However, his reliance on the Laffey 17 Matrix to support Johnson’s requested hourly is “not well founded.” Johnson v. Baird Lands, Inc., 18 18-CV-05365-VKD, 2020 WL 3833278, at *4 (N.D. Cal. July 8, 2020). The “Ninth Circuit has 19 not adopted the Laffey Matrix as a starting point for determining reasonable attorneys’ fees, and 20 other courts in this District have expressed skepticism about its applicability.” Id. (citing Prison 21 Legal News v. Schwarzenegger, 608 F.3d 446, 454 (9th Cir. 2010)). This court is similarly 22 skeptical and finds O’Connor’s use of the Laffey Matrix insufficient to justify Johnson’s requested 23 rates. 24 In addition to considering Johnson’s declarations and evidence, the Court looks to several 25 2020 decisions from other judges in this District address fee motions submitted by Johnson and his 26 current counsel. See Baird Lands, Inc., 2020 WL 3833278, at *4; Johnson v. Cala Stevens 27 Creek/Monroe, LLC, No. 17-CV-04574-LHK, 2020 WL 2556989, at *7 (N.D. Cal. May 20, 2020) 28 (approving $350/hour for C. Carson, D. Price, and A. Seabock; and $300/hour for S. Gunderson, 7 Case 5:19-cv-00827-BLF Document 67 Filed 11/24/20 Page 8 of 12 1 P. Price, and B. Smith); Johnson v. Li, No. 19-CV-08075-EJD, 2020 WL 3268580, at *4 (N.D. 2 Cal. June 17, 2020) (approving $350/hour for A. Seabock and D. Price); Johnson v. Baglietto, No. 3 19-CV-06206-TSH, 2020 WL 3065939, at *12 (N.D. Cal. May 21, 2020) (approving $350/hour 4 for A. Seabock). Those fee awards are summarized in the following chart: 5 6 Attorney 7 R. Handy C. Carson D. Price A. Seabock R. Doyle S. Gunderson I. Masanque P. Price J. McAllister B. Smith J. Zimmerman 8 9 10 United States District Court Northern District of California 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Requested Hourly Rate $650.00 $500.00 $500.00 $500.00 $450.00 $450.00 $450.00 $450.00 $400.00 $400.00 $400.00 Baird Lands $350.00 $350.00 $350.00 $350.00 $300.00 $350.00 $300.00 $300.00 - Li Baglietto $350.00 $350.00 - $475.00 $350.00 - Cala Stevens Creek $350.00 $350.00 $350.00 $300.00 $300.00 $300.00 - These reasonable rates provide guidance in this case when taking several factors into consideration. For instance, Johnson stated “this case did not present specialized or skillful challenges and was a fairly straight-forward application of the law.” Mot. 19. This characterization highlights the lack of complexity in this case. Defendants did not contest Johnson throughout most of the litigation, and Johnson’s counsel did not have to rely on specialized expertise to succeed on the merits of this case, respond to any oppositions to the motions for summary judgment, or attend a hearing for this motion. In sum, this Court is not persuaded that Johnson’s evidence justifies the requested rates. After considering Johnson’s evidence in conjunction with the rates awarded in the relevant legal community, the Court finds that the following hourly rates are reasonable for a lodestar analysis: 25 26 27 28 Attorney R. Handy C. Carson Requested Hourly Rate $650.00 $500.00 8 Reasonable Hourly Rate $475.00 $350.00 Case 5:19-cv-00827-BLF Document 67 Filed 11/24/20 Page 9 of 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 D. Price A. Seabock R. Doyle S. Gunderson I. Masanque P. Price J. McAllister B. Smith J. Zimmerman $500.00 $500.00 $450.00 $450.00 $450.00 $450.00 $400.00 $400.00 $400.00 $350.00 $350.00 $350.00 $300.00 $350.00 $350.00 $300.00 $300.00 $300.00 7 8 United States District Court Northern District of California 9 2. Reasonable Hours Having determined the reasonable rates for Johnson’s counsel, the Court turns to the 10 reasonableness of the hours expended. A court cannot “uncritically” accept a plaintiff’s 11 representations; rather, it must assess the reasonableness of the hours requested. Sealy, Inc. v. 12 Easy Living, Inc., 743 F.2d 1378, 1385 (9th Cir. 1984). The court has an independent duty to 13 ensure that the number of hours supporting the fee request are reasonable, even if the defendant 14 did not raise any objections. See, e.g., Gates v. Deukmejian, 987 F.2d 1392, 1402 (9th Cir. 1992) 15 (finding that district courts are required to independently review plaintiff’s fee request even absent 16 defense objections). The court may reduce fees claimed if the documentation is inadequate, the 17 submitted hours are duplicative or inefficient, or the requested fees appear excessive or otherwise 18 unnecessary. See Hensley, 461 U.S. at 434; see also Chalmers, 796 F.2d at 1210. The moving 19 party bears the burden of providing relevant documentation. Hensley, 461 U.S. at 433. Upon 20 examining the documentation, the court should then exclude from the initial lodestar calculation 21 any hours that are not reasonably expended. Id. at 434. 22 Johnson seeks to recovery attorneys’ fees for 43.1 hours worked. See Billing Summary 1, 23 9. Of these 43.1 hours, 8.0 hours were estimated time spent on analyzing an opposition brief, 24 drafting a reply, and attending oral argument. See Mot. 16. Johnson later requested the Court to 25 reduce the estimated hours from 8.0 estimated hours to 1.4 estimated hours if the hearing for this 26 motion was vacated. Reply 3. Of the 1.4 estimated hours, 1.1 hours was for drafting and research, 27 and 0.3 hours was for collecting various sovereign citizen responses. Id. Johnson did not submit 28 an updated billing summary to reflect these 1.4 estimated hours worked. Johnson seeks no 9 Case 5:19-cv-00827-BLF Document 67 Filed 11/24/20 Page 10 of 12 1 modification to the lodestar calculation. Mot. 17. Based on Johnson’s billing summary, the 2 attorneys have worked the following hours: 3 Attorney R. Handy C. Carson D. Price A. Seabock R. Doyle S. Gunderson I. Masanque P. Price J. McAllister B. Smith J. Zimmerman Total 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 United States District Court Northern District of California 11 12 13 Hours Claimed 1.0 1.0 10.71 6.8 0.2 1.6 7.9 1.0 5.8 0.4 6.7 43.1 See Billing Summary. In reviewing the billing summary, the Court finds that some of these hours are excessive or 14 15 unnecessary. A reduction is warranted where the billing summary contains numerous entries 16 billing 0.1 or 0.2 hours for reviewing notices and orders common to many ADA cases. See Baird 17 Lands, 2020 WL 3833278, at *7-8. Though a six minute timekeeping practice is “generally 18 reasonable[,] ... a reduction is warranted” in some circumstances. Kalani v. Starbucks Corp., No. 19 13-CV-00734-LHK, 2016 WL 379623, at *8 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 1, 2016); see also Jacobson v. 20 Persolve, LLC, No. 14-CV-00735-LHK, 2016 WL 7230873, at *10 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 14, 2016) 21 (“[B]illing 0.1 hours for certain practices sometimes requires a reduction.”). This is especially 22 relevant here because some of Johnson's counsel routinely billed six minutes “for the receipt and 23 review of multiple single sentence orders and docket entries.” Persolve, 2016 WL 7230873, at 24 *10. “In such situations, courts typically ‘reduce[ ] the hours by 50%.’” Baird Lands, 2020 WL 25 3833278, at *8 (quoting Cala Stevens Creek, 2020 WL 2556989, at *8–9). A. Seabock has several 26 0.1 hour entries, totaling 1.4 hours, for reviewing the following notices and orders: court issued 27 28 1 The billing summary does not account for Johnson’s requested estimated hour reduction. See Reply 3. 10 Case 5:19-cv-00827-BLF Document 67 Filed 11/24/20 Page 11 of 12 1 summons (0.1); standing orders, scheduling orders, and notice of eligibility of video recording 2 (0.3); three notices setting an ADR phone conference (0.3); notice referring the case to mediation 3 (0.1); notice rescheduling the initially scheduled ADR phone conference (0.1); order setting case 4 management conference (0.1); order regarding sanctions against Defendants and order about case 5 management (0.1); case management order and standing orders regarding jury trials (0.2); and 6 order imposing sanctions on Defendants (0.1). Billing Summary 2, 4-6. The Court reduces A. 7 Seabock’s time by 0.7 hours (50% of 1.4 hours). 8 United States District Court Northern District of California 9 In addition, the Court will reduce hours that were not incurred or for which the billing records provide no substantiation. Since Defendants did not file an opposition and the Court 10 vacated this motion’s hearing, D. Price’s estimated hours will be reduced from 8.0 estimated hours 11 to 1.4 estimated hours. See Reply 3. Thus, the Court reduces D. Price’s reasonable hours worked 12 by 6.6 hours. 13 14 3. Final Lodestar Amount The Court finds the remaining hours requested to be reasonable. Multiplying the 15 reasonable hourly rates and the hours reasonably expended yields a lodestar amount of 16 $11,930.00, calculated as shown in the following table: 17 18 Attorney 19 R. Handy C. Carson D. Price A. Seabock R. Doyle S. Gunderson I. Masanque P. Price J. McAllister B. Smith J. Zimmerman Total 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Hours Claimed 1.0 1.0 10.7 6.8 0.2 1.6 7.9 1.0 5.8 0.4 6.7 43.1 Hours Reduced 0.0 0.0 6.6 0.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 7.3 Total Hours 1.0 1.0 4.1 6.1 0.2 1.6 7.9 1.0 5.8 0.4 6.7 35.8 28 11 Reasonable Hourly Rate $475.00 $350.00 $350.00 $350.00 $350.00 $300.00 $350.00 $350.00 $300.00 $300.00 $300.00 Fee per Attorney $475.00 $350.00 $1,435.00 $2,135.00 $70.00 $480.00 $2,765.00 $350.00 $1,740.00 $120.00 $2,010.00 $11,930.00 Case 5:19-cv-00827-BLF Document 67 Filed 11/24/20 Page 12 of 12 1 B. 2 While the Unruh Act does not provide for recovery of out-of-pocket litigation expenses, 3 Section 505 of the ADA (42 U.S.C. §12205) does authorize recovery for “litigation expenses and 4 costs.” Johnson seeks $905.00 in litigation costs. Mot. 21. This includes the cost of hiring an 5 investigator ($400.00), filing fees ($400.00), and service costs ($105.00). Billing Summary at 1, 6 ECF 61-4. The Court finds these costs reasonable. See Johnson v. VN Alliance LLC, No. 18-CV- 7 01372-BLF, 2019 WL 2515749, at *9 (N.D. Cal. June 18, 2019) (including investigative costs, 8 filing fees, and service costs as litigation expenses). 9 IV. 10 United States District Court Northern District of California Costs ORDER (1) Plaintiff’s motion for attorneys’ fees and costs is GRANTED IN PART as follows: 11 Plaintiff shall recover attorneys’ fees in the amount of $11,930.00 and costs in the 12 amount of $905.00, for a total award of $12,835.00. 13 (2) The hearing set for January 28, 2021 is VACATED. 14 (3) This order terminates ECF 61. 15 16 17 18 Dated: November 24, 2020 ______________________________________ BETH LABSON FREEMAN United States District Judge 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 12
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