American Zurich Insurance Company v. ESG Republic, Inc.

Opinion

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA, FRESNO COURTHOUSE

AMERICAN ZURICH INSURANCE Case No. 1:23-cv-00643-KES-CDB COMPANY, ORDER ON STIPULATION; JUDGMENT Plaintiff, (Doc. 104) v.

ESG REPUBLIC, INC., ESG REPUBLIC II, DBA WORKLOGIC HR INSURANCE D. THORN, VENSURE EMPLOYER ACQUISITION, LLC and DOES 1 to 10, inclusive, Defendants.

The Court, having reviewed the stipulation to enter judgment in the event of default of plaintiff AMERICAN ZURICH INSURANCE COMPANY and defendant JEFFREY D. THORN, and the accompanying affidavit of Lincoln V. Horton in support of entry of judgment, and finding just cause therefor, does hereby rule as follows: There is no just reason for delaying entry of the stipulated judgment against defendant Under the settlement agreement, plaintiff may obtain attorneys’ fees it incurred to enforce the settlement agreement. Doc. 104 at 11. In support of the request for attorneys’ fees, plaintiff provides the affidavit of plaintiffs counsel, Lincoln V. Horton. Although not mentioned in his affidavit, Horton was admitted to practice in California in 1993.1 The request for an hourly rate of $310.00 is reasonable. See Perkins v. City of Modesto, No. 1:19-cv-00126-LJO-EPG, 2020 WL 4547325, at *2 (E.D. Cal. Aug. 6, 2020) (collecting cases). Horton indicates that he spent 9.5 hours preparing the affidavit and performing other work necessary to enforce the settlement agreement. However, Horton did not provide documentation itemizing his hours that would allow the Court to further verify the allocation of his time on this matter. As such, the Court will reduce the amount of the attorney fee award by 20%; the Court determines that the remaining amount for attorney’s fees is reasonable under the circumstances. See Cara v. Salley, No. 2:23- CV-00803-LK, 2024 WL 1859854, at *7 (W.D. Wash. Apr. 29, 2024) (reducing attorney fee award by 20% when counsel did not provide time entries). Accordingly, plaintiff is awarded $2,356.00 in attorneys’ fees. Judgment is entered in favor of plaintiff AMERICAN ZURICH INSURANCE COMPANY and against defendant JEFFREY D. THORN for $177,120.32 in damages (consisting of $174,764.32 due on the Settlement Amount per the parties Agreement, and $2,356.00 in attorneys’ fees). IT IS SO ORDERED. _ Dated: _ June 26, 2025 4h UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

! A review of the State Bar of California’s website at https://apps.calbar.ca.gov/attorney/Licensee/Detail/165238 indicates that Mr. Horton was admitted to practice law in June 1993. The Court takes judicial notice of the California State Bar webpage and the entry for attorney Lincoln V. Horton. See Fed. R. Evid. Rule 201(b); see also Jean-Louis v. City of Riverside, No. EDCV 13-01059 MMM ASx, 2015 WL 13907456, at *3 (C.D. Cal. Feb. 3, 2015) (taking judicial notice of the California State Bar webpage).