BFS Group, LLC v. ARC.CITY, INC.

Opinion

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2 3 4 5 6 7 United States District Court 8 Central District of California 9 10 11 BFS Group, LLC, Case No. 2:22-cv-03779-ODW (AJRx) 12 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR 13 v. ATTORNEYS’ FEES, NONTAXABLE 14 ARC.CITY, INC., COSTS, AND SANCTIONS 15 Defendant. WITHOUT PREJUDICE [99] 16 17 Following the Court’s entry of partial judgment, ordering final judgment in 18 favor of Plaintiff BFS Group, LLC and against Defendant Arc.City, Inc., (ECF 19 No. 97), BFS moved for attorneys’ fees, nontaxable costs, and sanctions (“Motion”), 20 (Mot., ECF No. 99). Before any further briefing on the Motion, Arc.City appealed the 21 judgment to the Ninth Circuit. (Notice Appeal, ECF No. 103.) 22 When an appeal on the merits is filed, a district court has discretion to rule on a 23 claim for fees, defer its ruling on the motion, or deny the motion without prejudice 24 and direct a new filing period for filing after the claim has been resolved. Fed. R. Civ. 25 P. 54(d)(2), Advisory Committee Notes (1993 Amendment); Dufour v. Allen, 26 No. 2:14-cv-05616 CAS (SSx), 2015 WL 12819170, at *2 (C.D. Cal. Jan. 26, 2015) 27 (“[A] district court has the discretion to defer consideration of an attorneys’ fee 28 motion until resolution of the underlying case’s appeal.”). “Particularly if the claim 1 || for fees involves substantial issues or is likely to be affected by the appellate decision, 2 | the district court may prefer to defer consideration of the claim for fees until after the 3 | appeal is resolved.” Fed. R. Civ. P.58, Advisory Committee Notes (1993 Amendment). “District courts have exercised their discretion to defer ruling on a 5 || motion for attorneys’ fees, or to deny the motion without prejudice to being renewed 6 || following disposition of the appeal.” Pacing Techs., LLC v. Garmin □□□□□□ Inc., 7 || No. 12-cv-01067-BEN (JLB), 2014 WL 2872219, at *2 (S.D. Cal. June 24, 2014). 8 In light of the foregoing, the Court DENIES WITHOUT PREJUDICE BFS’s 9 | Motion. (ECF No. 99.) The hearing on July 1, 2024, is VACATED. BFS may renew 10 | its Motion within 30 days of the entry of the Ninth Circuit’s Mandate on the 11 | pending appeal. 12 13 IT IS SO ORDERED. 14 15 May 30, 2024 < 16 Ree a 17 Lied cs

18 OTIS D. GHT, Il 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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