Drywall Tapers and Pointers of Greater New York Local Union 1974, Affiliated with International Union of Allied Painters and Allied Trades, AFL-CIO v. National Drywall Inc.

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK ---------------------------------------------------------------------- X : DRYWALL TAPERS AND POINTERS OF GREATER : NEW YORK LOCAL UNION 1974, AFFILIATED : WITH INTERNATIONAL UNION OF ALLIED : PAINTERS AND ALLIED TRADES, AFL-CIO, : 22-CV-10820 (JMF) : Petitioner, : ORDER : -v- : : : NATIONAL DRYWALL INC., : : Respondent. : : ---------------------------------------------------------------------- X

JESSE M. FURMAN, United States District Judge:

On January 27, 2023, the Court granted Petitioner’s unopposed petition to confirm the entire arbitral award, but reserved judgment on the amount of Petitioner’s attorney’s fees and costs, as Petitioner had not provided any support for its request for fees and costs. See ECF No. 11. Petitioner has now submitted an affirmation detailing fees and costs, including contemporaneous time records. See ECF No. 12. In determining a final award, courts have discretion to cut individual entries or to deduct a reasonable percentage overall “as a practical means of trimming fat from a fee application.” Kirsch v. Fleet St., Ltd., 148 F.3d 149, 173 (2d Cir. 1998) (internal quotation marks omitted). The Court concludes that counsel’s hourly rate — $300 — is reasonable, but it finds that the number of hours expended is unreasonable. To cite just one example: Petitioner states that it took 1.6 hours to “[p]repare[] and electronically [sic] a proposed judgment,” see ECF No. 12, a patently unreasonable amount of time for the document in question, see ECF No. 13. The Court concludes that a reduction of 20% of the attorney’s fees is a practical means of trimming the fat from the fee application. The Court separately concludes that Petitioner’s request for costs is reasonable. Accordingly, the Court orders that the Petitioners have judgment against Respondent in the liquidated amount of $5,922.00, which includes the following: arbitral award in the sum of $3,000.00, attorney’s fees in the sum of $2,400.00, and costs in the sum of $522.00. The Clerk of Court is directed to enter judgment in favor of Petitioner against the Respondent and to close the case.

SO ORDERED. Dated: February 3, 2023 New York, New York SSE RMAN ited States District Judge