Fierros v. Quebedeaux Buick GMC Incorporated

CourtDistrict Court, D. Arizona
DecidedAugust 24, 2022
Docket4:20-cv-00245
StatusUnknown

This text of Fierros v. Quebedeaux Buick GMC Incorporated (Fierros v. Quebedeaux Buick GMC Incorporated) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fierros v. Quebedeaux Buick GMC Incorporated, (D. Ariz. 2022).

Opinion

Case 4:20-cv-00245-RM-MSA Document 94 Filed 08/24/22 Page 1 of 24

1 WO 2 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 8 9 Sergio V Fierros, No. CV-20-00245-TUC-RM (MSA) 10 Plaintiff, ORDER 11 v. 12 Quebedeaux Buick GMC Incorporated, et al., 13 Defendants. 14 15 This lawsuit arose from Plaintiff Sergio Fierros’s purchase of an allegedly defective 16 vehicle. Plaintiff sued the seller, Quebedeaux Buick GMC, Inc.; the vehicle manufacturer, 17 General Motors, LLC; and the holder of the finance contract, U.S. Bank National 18 Association. He asserted two sets of claims, one relating to the vehicle, the other to U.S. 19 Bank’s allegedly tortious efforts to collect under the finance contract. The parties settled 20 all claims in December 2021. As part of their settlement, Plaintiff, Quebedeaux, and 21 General Motors agreed to submit the issue of attorney’s fees to the undersigned magistrate 22 judge. Plaintiff further agreed that he would not seek fees from U.S. Bank. 23 Now before the Court is Plaintiff’s motion for attorney’s fees and motion for leave 24 to supplement his motion for attorney’s fees. (Docs. 72, 78.) The motions have been fully 25 briefed, and oral argument was heard on August 11, 2022. (Docs. 73, 76, 80, 81, 93.) As 26 discussed below, Plaintiff will be granted leave to supplement his fee motion. Plaintiff’s 27 request for fees will be granted in part and denied in part. 28 .... Case 4:20-cv-00245-RM-MSA Document 94 Filed 08/24/22 Page 2 of 24

1 Discussion 2 The parties agree that Plaintiff is a prevailing party, and that his attorney’s fees 3 should be calculated using the lodestar method. The first step under this method is to 4 calculate the lodestar. Kelly v. Wengler, 822 F.3d 1085, 1099 (9th Cir. 2016) (citing Fischer 5 v. SJB-P.D. Inc., 214 F.3d 1115, 1119 (9th Cir. 2000)). The second step is to “determine[] 6 whether to modify the lodestar figure, upward or downward, based on factors not subsumed 7 in the lodestar figure.” Id. 8 I. The Lodestar. 9 The lodestar is calculated by multiplying “the number of hours reasonably expended 10 on the litigation . . . by a reasonable hourly rate.” Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 433 11 (1983). 12 A. Reasonable Hourly Rate. 13 “The reasonable hourly rate is determined by assessing ‘the prevailing market rate 14 in the relevant community.’” Roberts v. City of Honolulu, 938 F.3d 1020, 1024 (9th Cir. 15 2019) (quoting Kelly, 822 F.3d at 1099). Here, Plaintiff is represented by A. Ferraris Law 16 P.L.L.C. The firm charges hourly rates of $350 for attorney Christine Ferraris; $125 for 17 paralegals Linda Vaubel, Kimberly Rutherford, Miranda Briseño, and Lacey Norton; and 18 $100 for legal assistant Krystina Johnson. These rates are in line with the prevailing market 19 rates in the District of Arizona, and Defendants agree that they are reasonable. See Barrio 20 v. Gisa Invs. LLC, No. CV-20-00991-PHX, 2021 WL 1947507 (D. Ariz. May 14, 2021) 21 (awarding hourly rates of $325, $150, and $100 to Ferraris and her staff); United 22 Steelworkers of Am. v. Phelps Dodge Corp., 896 F.2d 403, 407 (9th Cir. 1990) (explaining 23 that “rate determinations in other cases, particularly those setting a rate for the plaintiffs’ 24 attorney, are satisfactory evidence of the prevailing market rate”). 25 B. Hours Reasonably Expended. 26 Counsel’s billing statement shows (when the hours are added correctly) that she and 27 her staff expended 213.5 hours on this matter. Defendants raise various challenges to the 28 reasonableness of these hours. Each is taken in turn.

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1 1. Clerical Work. 2 Defendants argue that counsel’s hours include non-compensable clerical work. 3 Clerical work is compensable in a fee award only if that is “the prevailing practice in the 4 local community.” Missouri v. Jenkins ex rel. Agyei, 491 U.S. 274, 287 n.9 (1989). In 5 Arizona, purely clerical tasks are not recoverable. See Cont’l Townhouses E. Unit One 6 Ass’n v. Brockbank, 733 P.2d 1120, 1128 (Ariz. Ct. App. 1986) (holding that recovery may 7 be had for “specifically-delegated substantive legal work”). Plaintiff’s counsel concedes 8 this point and has voluntarily reduced some of her hours. The parties continue to disagree, 9 however, as to whether certain task entries involved clerical work. 10 The Court agrees with Defendants that further deductions are necessary. Numerous 11 task entries involved filing, uploading, formatting, sequencing, Bates-stamping, and 12 proofreading (as opposed to substantive revision of) documents. These are purely clerical 13 tasks. Isom v. JDA Software Inc., 225 F. Supp. 3d 880, 889–90 (D. Ariz. 2016) (formatting 14 documents); Precision Seed Cleaners v. Country Mut. Ins., 976 F. Supp. 2d 1228, 1251 15 (D. Or. 2013) (filing documents); Bark v. Northrop, 300 F.R.D. 486, 494 (D. Or. 2014) 16 (proofreading documents); Worden v. Klee Bethel, M.D., P.C., No. 1 CA–CV 08–0490, 17 2009 WL 2003321, at *5 (Ariz. Ct. App. 2009) (Bates-stamping documents). Several 18 entries involved calendaring dates and organizing the case file. These, too, are purely 19 clerical. Precision Seed, 976 F. Supp. 2d at 1251. Finally, numerous entries involved 20 routine, non-substantive communications (e.g., for scheduling). These purely clerical tasks 21 are not compensable. See Isom, 225 F. Supp. 3d at 889. Communications with Plaintiff 22 relating to the progress of his case, however, are compensable. Quade ex rel. Quade v. 23 Barnhart, 570 F. Supp. 2d 1164, 1167 (D. Ariz. 2008). 24 The Appendices attached to this Order show which tasks were deducted as non- 25 compensable clerical work. The following are examples: 26 Date Timekeeper Description Hours Deduction Upload US Bank’s Partial Motion to Dismiss and 27 8/6/2020 Vaubel calendar response deadline. Note: This entry was not .2 .2 billed on previous invoices. 28

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1 Proofread version 2 of Second Amended Complaint for 1/21/2021 Vaubel claims against US Bank per the court’s .8 .8 2 recommendation report Bates number documents to accompany initial 3 6/23/2021 Rutherford disclosure statement; assemble into single PDF; upload .6 .6 to active case files for review. 4 Filed revised Joint Report and First Amended Proposed 10/12/2021 Briseño .3 .3 5 Scheduling Order with the Court upload for client

6 2. Hours Relating to U.S. Bank. 7 Defendants argue that counsel’s hours should be reduced to the extent they relate to 8 claims asserted against U.S. Bank. This argument requires some additional background. 9 Plaintiff had, essentially, two sets of claims: one stemming from the sale of the defective 10 vehicle (vehicle claims) and the other from U.S. Bank’s attempts to collect under the 11 vehicle finance contract (collection claims). Quebedeaux, the seller, and General Motors, 12 the manufacturer, were subject to the vehicle claims. U.S. Bank, the party which allegedly 13 engaged in tortious collection efforts, was subject to the collection claims.

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Related

Hensley v. Eckerhart
461 U.S. 424 (Supreme Court, 1983)
Blum v. Stenson
465 U.S. 886 (Supreme Court, 1984)
Missouri v. Jenkins Ex Rel. Agyei
491 U.S. 274 (Supreme Court, 1989)
Continental Townhouses East Unit One Ass'n v. Brockbank
733 P.2d 1120 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1986)
Schweiger v. China Doll Restaurant, Inc.
673 P.2d 927 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1983)
Quade Ex Rel. Quade v. Barnhart
570 F. Supp. 2d 1164 (D. Arizona, 2008)
Rick Carter v. Caleb Brett LLC
757 F.3d 866 (Ninth Circuit, 2014)
Joshua Kelly v. Timothy Wengler
822 F.3d 1085 (Ninth Circuit, 2016)
Robinson v. Missouri Pacific Railroad
16 F.3d 1083 (Tenth Circuit, 1994)
Sorenson v. Mink
239 F.3d 1140 (Ninth Circuit, 2001)
Isom v. JDA Software Inc.
225 F. Supp. 3d 880 (D. Arizona, 2016)
Precision Seed Cleaners v. Country Mutual Insurance
976 F. Supp. 2d 1228 (D. Oregon, 2013)
Bark v. Northrop
300 F.R.D. 486 (D. Oregon, 2014)
United Steelworkers v. Phelps Dodge Corp.
896 F.2d 403 (Ninth Circuit, 1990)

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