Conservation Law Foundation, Inc. v. Roland Teiner Co.

832 F. Supp. 2d 102, 2011 WL 6812862, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 148791
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedDecember 28, 2011
DocketCivil Action No. 10-11654-WGY
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 832 F. Supp. 2d 102 (Conservation Law Foundation, Inc. v. Roland Teiner Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Conservation Law Foundation, Inc. v. Roland Teiner Co., 832 F. Supp. 2d 102, 2011 WL 6812862, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 148791 (D. Mass. 2011).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

YOUNG, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

The Conservation Law Foundation, Inc. (“CLF”) commenced this action on September 28, 2010, by filing suit in this Court alleging that the Roland Teiner Company, Inc. (“Roland Teiner”) had violated the Clean Water Act, 38 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq. (the “Act”), at its facility located at 134 Tremont Street, Everett, Massachusetts. Roland Teiner failed to plead or otherwise defend itself in this action, and this Court entered default judgment in CLF’s favor on September 12, 2011. This Court also stated:

It is hereby ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that plaintiff recover from defendant Attorneys’ Fees and costs, payable to the Conservation Law Foundation, Inc. in an amount to be based upon Plaintiffs fully supported motion to be filed within fourteen days after entry of this Order.

Sept. 12 Order, ECF No. 13.

CLF timely moved for attorneys’ fees and costs on September 27, 2011. Mot. Att’y Fees & Costs, ECF. No. 14. After careful consideration, this Court grants CLF’s motion, and awards CLF $14,647.30 in attorneys’ fees, and $433.96 in litigation costs.

II. ANALYSIS

A. CLF’s Entitlement to Attorneys’ Fees and Costs

Under the Act, this Court may award litigation costs and attorneys’ fees to a “prevailing” or “substantially prevailing” party, when the court “determines such award is appropriate.” 33 U.S.C. § 1365(d). This Court entered default judgment for CLF, and found that CLF prevailed on its claims against Roland Teiner. Sept. 12 Order. Consequently, this Court grants CLF’s current motion for attorneys’ fees and costs under the Act but reduces the total amount of fees and costs.

B. Reasonable Attorneys’ Fees

1. Methodology

CLF submitted affidavits and billing records of two attorneys, ultimately requesting 1) $2,830 for the 5.66 hours Attorney Christopher Kilian worked on this case, and 2) $38,885 for the 111.10 hours Attorney Cynthia Liebman DeCambre worked on this case, totaling $41,715. Mot. Att’y Fees & Costs, Ex. 1, Hourly Fees of CLF 1 (“Time Log”), ECF No. 14-1.

The lodestar approach is the proper method to calculate attorneys’ fees. Conservation Law Found., Inc. v. Patrick, 767 F.Supp.2d 244, 250 (D.Mass.2011). Under the lodestar approach, this Court determines the fees by calculating “the number of hours reasonably expended on the litigation multiplied by a reasonable hourly rate.” Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 433, 103 S.Ct. 1933, 76 L.Ed.2d 40 (1983). The movant, CLF, bears the burden of establishing and documenting the hours expended and the hourly rates charged. Torres-Rivera v. O’Neill-Cancel, 524 F.3d 331, 340 (1st Cir.2008).

When calculating appropriate attorneys’ fees with the lodestar method, “only hours that were reasonably expended on the litigation ought be included.” Dixon v. International Bhd. of Police Officers, 434 F.Supp.2d 73, 78 (D.Mass.2006) (citing Hensley, 461 U.S. at 433, 103 S.Ct. 1933). [105]*105Even though Roland Teiner did not respond to CLF’s motion here, this Court “has a right—indeed, a duty—to see whether counsel substantially exceeded the bounds of reasonable effort.” United States v. Metropolitan Dist. Comm’n, 847 F.2d 12, 17 (1st Cir.1988) (citation omitted). Thus, this Court may, and will, reduce the number of hours CLF billed that were “excessive, redundant, or otherwise unnecessary.” Hensley, 461 U.S. at 434, 103 S.Ct. 1933.

2. Attorney Kilian’s Hours

CLF claims that Kilian spent a total of 5.66 hours working on this case. Time Log 3. After reviewing his records, this Court reduces Kilian’s time to 3.33 hours.

This Court notes that Kilian spent an extensive amount of time, 4.66 out of his total 5.66 hours, conferencing with other CLF and pro bono attorneys. While conferencing is “a necessary element of managing ... litigation competently,” Roland Teiner should not be liable for the costs of excessive conferencing. See Conservation Law Found., 767 F.Supp.2d at 254 (applying flat rate reduction in fees for excessive conferencing) (citing Rosie D. ex rel. John D. v. Patrick, 593 F.Supp.2d 325, 332 (D.Mass.2009) (Ponsor, J.) (approving fees for conferencing where case was “enormously complex, both factually and legally”)). Unlike a recent decision on attorneys’ fees involving the same plaintiff before this Court, see Conservation Law Found., 767 F.Supp.2d at 254, this case was a default judgment and Roland Teiner never appeared or defended itself. Notably, more than half of the hours billed by Attorney Kilian in this case were related to the default judgment. In addition, Attorney Liebman DeCambre has also separately billed for many of these conferences. Consequently, this Court reduces by half the 4.66 hours Kilian spent conferencing with the other attorneys.

3. Attorney Liebman DeCambre’s Hours

CLF claims that Attorney Liebman De-Cambre spent a total of 111.10 hours working on this case. Time Log 1. After careful review, this Court reduces Liebman DeCambre’s total time to 87.80 hours, 20.00 of which are compensable at half of Liebman DeCambre’s normal rate.

a. Insufficient Records

To recover any fees, CLF must submit “detailed contemporaneous time records,” the absence of which “will call for a substantial reduction in any award or, in egregious cases, disallowance.” Grendel’s Den, Inc. v. Larkin, 749 F.2d 945, 952 (1st Cir.1984). Under this requirement, records lacking “the nature of the work performed during the hour or hours in question should be refused.” Calhoun v. Acme Cleveland Corp., 801 F.2d 558, 560 (1st Cir.1986) (quoting King v. Greenblatt, 560 F.2d 1024, 1027 (1st Cir.1977)); accord Torres-Rivera, 524 F.3d at 336 (“[Tjime records may be too generic, and, thus, insufficient as a practical matter to permit a court to answer questions about excessiveness, redundancy, and the like.”).

At least twenty-four entries in Liebman DeCambre’s time log fail to meet this requirement. These entries, such as “Mystic file review,” “Mystic legal research,” and simply “MSGP,” see Time Log 4-15, do not offer adequate detail as required under Grendel’s Den. For example, on April 28, 2010, Liebman DeCambre spent as much as nine hours on “MSGP Cases,” with 1.5 hours billed out to Roland Teiner. Id. at 7. Liebman DeCambre failed to document adequately a total of 8.10 hours under these entries, and this Court will disallow these hours.

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832 F. Supp. 2d 102, 2011 WL 6812862, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 148791, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/conservation-law-foundation-inc-v-roland-teiner-co-mad-2011.