Chambers v. Knight

Opinion

JODY F. CHAMBERS, Case No. 18-cv-2906-BAS-BGS Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S v. DAMAGES AND COSTS JOHN A KNIGHT, [ECF No. 19] Defendant. On August 13, 2019, the Court granted in part and denied in part Plaintiff’s Motion for Default Judgment Against Defendant Knight. (ECF No. 16.) The Court granted default judgment on Plaintiff’s claim for the reasonable value of services rendered (Claim 6), but concluded it lacked sufficient information to calculate damages and therefore deferred the issue of damages, pre- and post-judgment interest and costs. (Id.) Following this order, Plaintiff filed a detailed Motion for Award of Damages and Costs for Default Judgment on Claim 6 (ECF No. 19), as well as a Hearing Memorandum (ECF No. 22.) On January 7, 2020, the Court held an evidentiary hearing and took the testimony of Ms. Chambers. (ECF No. 23.) Based on this testimony, as well as the exhibits filed in Plaintiff’s Motions, the Court GRANTS Plaintiff’s request for damages in the amount of $82,147.1 The Court finds the 1 Plaintiff appears to round up the last bill for $8,647 to $9,000, but the Court declines to do so. Hence the reasonable value of services Ms. Chambers provided to Mr. Knight between 2014 and 2018 was $183,647, as follows: For services rendered in 2014: $10,000 For services rendered in 2015: $10,000 For services rendered in 2016: $72,500 For services rendered in 2017: $52, 500 For services rendered in 2018: $38,647 The Court further finds that Ms. Chambers was paid a total of $101,500 for these services, leaving an unpaid balance of $82,147. Furthermore, the Court awards costs in the amount of $655 for the costs of the filing fee and service of process costs on Mr. Knight. Finally, the Court awards prejudgment interest at the rate of 7% per annum from the date the claim arose, or 30 days after Ms. Chambers rendered the services that were unpaid. (See ECF No. 19, pg. 124 detailing the date each claim arose). See Michelson v. Hamada, 29 Cal. App. 4th 1566, 1585 (1994) (“the applicable legal rate of prejudgment interest for the compensation damages awarded under both the fraud and contract causes of action is 7 percent”). The decision as to whether to grant prejudgment interest and whether to award compound prejudgment interest is one for the trier of fact. Id. at 1586–87. If awarded, prejudgment interest should run from the time the money was lost, “because the duty to compensate plaintiff for her losses arose then.” Id. (quotation omitted.) In this case, Plaintiff incurred losses beginning in 2015. The request for prejudgment interest, beginning 30 days after an invoice was sent detailing the reasonable value of the services she had rendered, is a reasonable one. Hence the Court awards a total of $15,954.15 in prejudgment interest, calculated as indicated in the spread sheet attached as Table 1. The Court is not awarding any compound interest. Accordingly, judgment is entered in favor of Plaintiff and against Defendant Knight on Claim 6 in the amount of $82,147, plus prejudgment interest of $15,954.15 and costs of $655. The Court further awards post-judgment interest beginning from the date of this }Order at a rate of 7% per annum. The remaining counts against Defendant Knight are dismissed. The clerk is directed to close the case. /| ) s || DATED: January 8, 2020 ast dg 2 Aipha. 6 United States District Judge

Table 1 Annual Prejudgment Unpaid Balance Today's Days Total Simple Invoice Date Interest Interest Date Outstanding Date Overdue Interest Rate Rate Accrued 101 1/20/2015 2/20/2015 $ 5,000.00 1/8/2020 1783 7.00% 34.1945% $ 1,709.73 102 10/20/2015 11/20/2015 $ 5,000.00 1/8/2020 1510 7.00% 28.9589% $ 1,447.95 103 11/20/2015 12/21/2015 $ 5,000.00 1/8/2020 1479 7.00% 28.3644% $ 1,418.22 104 3/31/2016 5/1/2016 $ 5,000.00 1/8/2020 1347 7.00% 25.8329% $ 1,291.64 110 9/30/2016 10/31/2016 $ 5,500.00 1/8/2020 1164 7.00% 22.3233% $ 1,227.78 111 10/31/2016 12/1/2016 $ 7,500.00 1/8/2020 1133 7.00% 21.7288% $ 1,629.66 112 11/30/2016 12/31/2016 $ 7,500.00 1/8/2020 1103 7.00% 21.1534% $ 1,586.51 113 12/30/2016 1/30/2017 $ 7,500.00 1/8/2020 1073 7.00% 20.5781% $ 1,543.36 118 5/31/2017 7/1/2017 $ 7,500.00 1/8/2020 921 7.00% 17.6630% $ 1,324.73 120 7/31/2017 8/31/2017 $ 5,000.00 1/8/2020 860 7.00% 16.4932% $ 824.66 123 6/1/2018 7/2/2018 $ 10,000.00 1/8/2020 555 7.00% 10.6438% $ 1,064.38 124 6/22/2018 7/23/2018 $ 8,647.00 1/8/2020 534 7.00% 10.2411% $ 885.55 Sum $ 15,954.15