Avalos v. BBVA USA

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

GEORGE AVALOS, Case No. 1:20-cv-01581-DAD-SAB

Plaintiff, ORDER REQUIRING PLAINTIFF TO SUPPLEMENT MOTION FOR DEFAULT v. JUDGMENT

BBVA USA, et al., FIVE DAY DEADLINE

Defendants.

George Avalos (“Plaintiff”) filed this action pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), 42 U.S.C. § 12181, et seq. Currently before the Court is Plaintiff’s application for default judgment filed February 18, 2021. Upon review of the motion for default judgment, the Court shall require Plaintiff to file a supplement to address the following issues. 1. Reasonable Hourly Rate for Attorney Fees Counsel seeks $375.00 per hour for work of an associate attorney in this action. (Manning Decl. at ¶ 8.) However, no information has been provided regarding the experience of the associate attorney that worked on this matter. The lodestar amount is to be determined based upon the prevailing market rate in the relevant community. Blum v. Stenson, 465 U.S. 886, 896 (1984). “To inform and assist the court in the exercise of its discretion, the burden is on the fee applicant to produce satisfactory evidence—in addition to the attorney’s own affidavits—that the requested rates are in line with those prevailing in the community for similar services by lawyers of reasonably comparable skill, experience and reputation.” Blum, 465 U.S. at 895 n.11. Plaintiff may supplement the motion to address this issue. Absent information to inform the Court of the requisite level of experience for the attorneys in this action, the Court shall use | the rate for an attorney with | to 2 years of experience for work performed by associate attorneys in this action. 2. Costs Plaintiff also seeks costs for service of process in this action, but has not included documentation to support the costs sought. Plaintiff shall supplement the motion to provide documentation for the costs sought in this action. Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff shall file supplemental briefing for the application for default judgment within five (5) days of the date of entry of this order. IT IS SO ORDERED. DAM Le Dated: _ February 23, 2021 ;

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE