Hampton v. Barclays Bank Delaware

District Court, D. Kansas·Decided December 29, 2020·No. 5:18-cv-04071·Unknown

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF KANSAS

ANTHONY J. HAMPTON,

Plaintiff,

v. Case No. 18-4071-DDC-ADM BARCLAYS BANK DELAWARE, et al.,

Defendants. _____________________________________________

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER Pro se plaintiff1 Anthony J. Hampton filed this action against Barclays Bank Delaware (“Barclays”) and seven other named defendants. Doc. 1. Against Barclays, plaintiff asserted a single claim alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681– 1681x. Doc. 141 at 13–16. Barclays responded to plaintiff’s lawsuit by filing a Counterclaim asserting breach of contract or, in the alternative, an unjust enrichment claim against plaintiff, seeking to recover the unpaid balance that plaintiff owed on a consumer loan that Barclay’s made to him. Doc. 60 at 19–21; Doc. 145 at 1 n.1. On August 13, 2020, the court granted summary judgment for Barclays. Doc. 208. The court granted summary judgment against plaintiff’s FCRA claim. Id. at 63. Also, it granted summary judgment for Barclays on its Counterclaim, awarding Barclays a judgment of $5,629.33, plus interest, and reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs. Id.

1 Because plaintiff proceeds pro se, the court construes his pleadings liberally. See Hall v. Bellmon, 935 F.2d 1106, 1110 (10th Cir. 1991) (holding that courts must construe pro se litigant’s pleadings liberally and hold them to a less stringent standard than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers). But, under this standard, the court does not assume the role as plaintiff’s advocate. Garrett v. Selby Connor Maddux & Janer, 425 F.3d 836, 840 (10th Cir. 2005). The court does not construct arguments for plaintiff or search the record. Id. The parties have filed two post-judgment motions that the court now considers. First, Barclays has filed a “Petition for Attorneys’ Fees.” Doc. 213. Second, plaintiff has filed a motion seeking a stay of execution of the Judgment and asking the court to waive the bond requirement. Doc. 217. For reasons explained below, the court grants Barclays’s motion seeking attorneys’ fees.

And, the court grants—but just in part—plaintiff’s motion seeking a stay of execution of the Judgment and waiver of the bond requirement. Specifically, the court grants plaintiff’s request that the court stay execution of the Judgment. But, it denies plaintiff’s request to waive the full supersedeas bond requirement. Instead, the court reduces the bond requirement to half of the amount of the court’s August 13, 2020 Judgment—or $2,814.66. The court explains how it reaches these decisions, below. I. Background As referenced above, the court granted summary judgment for Barclays. Doc. 208. The summary judgment included a judgment against plaintiff’s FCRA claim and a judgment for

Barclays on its Counterclaim. Id. at 63. The court awarded Barclays a judgment of $5,629.33, plus interest, and reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs. Id. The court entered a Judgment consistent with these summary judgment rulings. Doc. 209. On August 26, 2020, plaintiff filed a Notice of Appeal. Doc. 210. His Notice of Appeal seeks to appeal the court’s Memorandum and Order granting summary judgment for Barclays (Doc. 208) and the Judgment (Doc. 209). See Doc. 210 at 1 (reciting that plaintiff “appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit from the final judgment from an order dismissing case entered in this action on August 13, 2020”). On August 27, 2020, Barclays filed a “Petition for Attorneys’ Fees.” Doc. 213. It asks the court to award Barclays its attorneys’ fees in the amount of $2,455. Id. at 6. In response to Barclays’s motion, plaintiff submitted a one-page filing titled, “Plaintiff’s Opposition to Defendant Barclays Bank Delaware’s Petition for Attorneys’ Fees and Stay of Judgment Pending Appeal.” Doc. 216. The Clerk of the Court docketed this filing twice—once as a response to

Barclays’s motion seeking attorneys’ fees and, separately, as a motion seeking a stay of execution of Barclays’s Judgment against plaintiff. See Doc. 216 (docketed as a response); Doc. 217 (docketed as a motion). Barclays opposes plaintiff’s request to stay execution of the Judgment. Doc. 220. Both matters—the attorneys’ fees motion and the motion seeking a stay of execution of the Judgment—are fully briefed for the court’s consideration. This Order decides both motions on the basis explained below. II. Motion for Attorneys’ Fees Barclays asks the court to award its reasonable attorneys’ fees incurred in its litigation of the Counterclaim seeking to collect the unpaid balance on plaintiff’s loan. In its summary

judgment Order, the court explained that plaintiff’s Loan Agreement with Barclays provided that Barclays may recover reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs in connection with the use of an attorney to collect if plaintiff defaulted on the loan. Doc. 208 at 8, 42–43. On Barclays’s summary judgment motion, the court concluded that the undisputed facts established no genuine dispute that Barclays had a valid contract with plaintiff supported by consideration (i.e., the Loan Agreement), plaintiff had breached that contract, and thus caused Barclays to incur damages. Id. at 43. Among other things, the court found that the damages incurred by Barclays included reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs expended to collect the unpaid balance owed under the Loan Agreement. Id. So, the court awarded Barclays its damages plus its reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs expended collecting on the unpaid balance plaintiff owes under the Loan Agreement. Id. Now, Barclays asks the court to award it a total sum of $2,455 in attorneys’ fees. Barclays asserts this sum represents a reasonable amount of fees incurred in its prosecution of the Counterclaim seeking to recover the unpaid loan balance. The court agrees. It explains why,

below. A. Legal Standard The district court has broad authority over awards of attorneys’ fees. Law v. Nat’l Collegiate Athletic Ass’n, 4 F. App’x 749, 751 (10th Cir. 2001); United Phosphorus, Ltd. v. Midland Fumigant, Inc., 205 F.3d 1219, 1234 (10th Cir. 2000). When determining whether a requested fee award is reasonable, “a court must begin by calculating the so-called ‘lodestar amount’ of a fee” which is “the product of the number of attorney hours ‘reasonably expended’ and a ‘reasonable hourly rate.’” Robinson v. City of Edmond, 160 F.3d 1275, 1281 (10th Cir. 1998) (quoting Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 433

(1983) (further citations omitted)). The party requesting attorneys’ fees bears the burden to prove the amount of hours spent on the case and the appropriate hourly rates. United Phosphorus, 205 F.3d at 1233. Once an applicant satisfies this burden, the court presumes that the lodestar figure is a reasonable fee. Robinson, 160 F.3d at 1281; see also Weaver v. JTM Performant Recovery, Inc., No. 2:13-cv-2408-JTM, 2014 WL 4843961, at *4 (D. Kan. Sept. 29, 2014) (“Once an applicant has met this burden, the lodestar figure is presumed to be a reasonable fee.”). After determining the lodestar, the court may adjust that figure upward or downward “‘to account for the particularities of the suit and its outcome.’” Fox v. Pittsburgh State Univ., 258 F. Supp. 3d 1243, 1254 (D. Kan. 2017) (quoting Zinna v.

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