Burton v. Nilkanth Pizza Inc., No. 20-2984 (8th Cir. 2021)
Annotate this CaseThe Eighth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part in an action challenging the district court's award of attorney's fees and costs. The court concluded that the district court did not abuse its discretion in setting the attorneys' rates or in excluding the managing partner's hours as unwarranted. However, the district court abused its discretion by excluding all hours related to plaintiff's three summary judgment motions and 1.6 hours for two oppositions: to a successful motion for extension of time to file the answer, and to a successful motion to continue the trial. Finally, the court need not appoint a new judge for remand where judicial rulings alone almost never constitute a valid basis for a bias or partiality motion, and judicial remarks that are critical or disapproving of, or even hostile to a party ordinarily do not support a bias or partiality challenge. The court remanded for further proceedings.
Court Description: [Benton, Author, with Loken and Colloton, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Fair Labor Standards Act. In ruling on plaintiff's motion for attorney fees after the matter had been settled, the district court did not abuse its discretion in setting the attorneys' rates or in excluding the managing partner's hours as unwarranted; however, the district court erred in excluding all hours related to plaintiff's three summary judgment motions and three oppositions to defendant's motions; plaintiff's motion to reassign the case on remand is rejected. Judge Loken, dissenting in part.
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