Dagostino v. Computer Credit, Inc.

238 F. Supp. 3d 404, 2017 WL 776086, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29845
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedFebruary 28, 2017
DocketNo 15-cv-6752 (JFB) (ARL)
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 238 F. Supp. 3d 404 (Dagostino v. Computer Credit, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dagostino v. Computer Credit, Inc., 238 F. Supp. 3d 404, 2017 WL 776086, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29845 (E.D.N.Y. 2017).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

Joseph F. Bianco, District Judge:

Plaintiff commenced this action on November 24, 2015, alleging various violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1692 (the “FDCPA”). (Compl., ECF No. 1.) On June 20, 2016, plaintiff filed an Amended Complaint. (Am. Compl., ECF No. 18.) The following month, plaintiff filed an acceptance of Rule 68 Offer of Judgment. (ECF No. 19.)

Plaintiff subsequently filed a motion for attorneys’ fees. (ECF No. 20.) On August 3, 2016, defendant filed its opposition to the motion. (ECF No. 25.) On August 4, 2016, plaintiff filed her reply. (ECF No. 26.) Defendant’s opposition brief and plaintiffs reply brief each contain a request for sanctions against the opposing party’s counsel. Further, in her reply brief, plaintiff requests fees for fifteen hours of legal work performed by plaintiffs counsel and $270.70 in costs incurred in connection with the preparation of the reply brief and accompanying declarations and exhibits.

For the reasons set forth below, the Court awards plaintiff $11,014.50 in attorneys’ fees and $767.28 in costs, for a total of $11,781.78. The Court denies the parties’ respective requests for sanctions.

I. Attobney’s Fees

“The general rule in our legal system is that each party must pay its own attorney’s fees and expenses.” Perdue v. Kenny A ex rel. Winn, 559 U.S. 542, 550, 130 S.Ct. 1662, 176 L.Ed.2d 494 (2010). Under the FDCPA, however, “[a] consumer who brings a successful FDCPA lawsuit can recover ‘the costs of the action, together with a reasonable attorney’s fee as determined by the court.’ ” Savino v. Computer Credit, Inc., 164 F.3d 81, 87 (2d Cir. 1998) (quoting 15 U.S.C. § 1692k(a)(3)); see also Nero v. Law Office of Sam Streeter, P.L.L.C., 655 F.Supp.2d 200, 209-10 (E.D.N.Y. 2009).

Generally, to determine reasonable attorneys’ fees, a court must calculate a “lodestar figure,” which is determined by multiplying the number of hours reasonably expended on a case by a reasonable hourly rate. See Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 433, 103 S.Ct. 1933, 76 L.Ed.2d 40 (1983); see also Luciano v. Olsten Corp., 109 F.3d 111, 115 (2d Cir. 1997). “Both [the Second Circuit] and the Supreme Court have held that the lodestar ... creates a ‘presumptively reasonable fee.’” Millea v. Metro-N. R.R. Co., 658 F.3d 154, 166 (2d Cir. 2011) (citing Arbor Hill Concerned Citizens Neighborhood Assoc. v. Cnty. of Albany, 522 F.3d 182, 183 (2d Cir. 2008); Perdue 559 U.S. at 542,130 S.Ct. 1662). “‘[T]he lodestar figure includes most, if not all, of the relevant factors constituting a ‘reasonable’ attorney’s fee.’ ” Perdue, 559 U.S. at 553, 130 S.Ct. 1662 (quoting Pennsylvania v. Del. Valley Citizens’ Council for Clean Air, 478 U.S. 546, 566, 106 S.Ct. 3088, 92 L.Ed.2d 439 (1986)). Thus, the Supreme Court has recognized that “the lodestar method produces an award that roughly approximates the fee that the prevailing attorney would have received if he or she had been representing a paying client who was billed by the hour in a comparable case.” Id. at 551, 130 S.Ct. 1662. “The burden is on the party seeking attorney’s fees to submit sufficient evidence to support the hours worked and the rates claimed.” Hugee v. [410]*410Kimso Apartments, LLC, 852 F.Supp.2d 281, 298 (E.D.N.Y. 2012) (citing Hensley, 461 U.S. at 433, 103 S.Ct. 1933).

A. Defendant’s Opposition to Any Award of Attorneys’ Fees

Defendant argues that plaintiffs request for attorneys’ fees should be denied in its entirety based on the following grounds: (1) the timesheet submitted with the Barclay Declaration (the “final time-sheet”) (ECF No. 23, Ex. 1) appears to contain inaccuracies, (2) plaintiff made misrepresentations in the course of the litigation, and (3) plaintiffs counsel directly emailed defendant after being warned not to do so. (Decl. of Robert L. Dougherty dated August 3, 2016 (“Dougherty Decl.”), ECF No. 25 ¶ 27.)1

Turning first to defendant’s contentions concerning the accuracy of the timesheet, the Court finds that certain adjustments are warranted in light of defendant’s specific contentions. Those adjustments are outlined below. However, once these adjustments are made, no further remedy— much less denying attorneys’ fees in their entirety—is necessary. See, e.g., New York Ass’n for Retarded Children, Inc. v. Carey, 711 F.2d 1136, 1141-42 (2d Cir. 1983) (upholding calculation of hours where district court “concluded that the application for fees was inaccurate in some respects ... [and] therefore, disallowed a significant number of the hours claimed by the plaintiffs”).

The Court also rejects defendant’s argument that fees are not warranted because plaintiff allegedly made certain misrepresentations in the course of the litigation. First, defendant asserts that plaintiff testified at her deposition initially that she was an attorney and then later denied that she was an attorney. (Dougherty Decl. ¶27.) Plaintiff denies this allegation in a Declaration dated August 3, 2016 (“Pl.’s Decl.”). (ECF No. 27.) Specifically, plaintiff states that she is an attorney (Pl.’s Decl. ¶ 2), and that defendant’s allegation was based on an error contained in the transcript of her deposition (id. ¶¶ 10-14). Having considered the parties’ arguments, the Court concludes that whether plaintiff stated that she was not an attorney is immaterial to whether her counsel should be awarded attorneys’ fees. Thus, the Court rejects defendant’s argument that this unresolved factual issue should lead the Court to deny plaintiffs request for attorneys’ fees.

The second misrepresentation by plaintiff that defendant alleges is that she stated in her initial complaint that she received an October 5, 2015 letter that she later denied receiving. (Pl.’s Decl. ¶27.) Defendant failed to indicate to the Court where in the record these inconsistencies appear. Upon the Court’s review of the complaint, the amended complaint, and the exhibits attached to the Dougherty Declaration, the Court has found no support for defendant’s allegation that she made inconsistent statements regarding having received an October 5, 2015 letter. In plaintiffs complaint, she states that she received the October 5, 2015 letter on October 8, 2015. (ECF No. 1 ¶29.) The amended complaint does not state that she received the letter, but it also does not state that she did not receive the letter, (See ECF No. 18.) In fact, the amended complaint acknowledges that defendant [411]*411contacted her by letter dated October 5, 2015. (Id.

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238 F. Supp. 3d 404, 2017 WL 776086, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29845, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dagostino-v-computer-credit-inc-nyed-2017.