Lee v. Dist. of Columbia

303 F. Supp. 3d 57
Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit·Decided April 6, 2018·No. Case No. 15–cv–01802 (APM)·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

Amit P. Mehta, United States District Judge

I.

This matter is before the court on Plaintiff Juanishia Lee's Second Motion for Attorneys' Fees under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA"). This court previously granted in part and denied in part Plaintiff's initial motion for attorneys' fees and awarded Plaintiff $77,616.50 in attorneys' fees and costs for her counsel's successful representation of her minor child, J.K., during administrative proceedings and in the instant litigation.

*59See generally Lee v. District of Columbia , No. 15-cv-1802, 298 F.Supp.3d 4, 2018 WL 400754 (D.D.C. Jan. 12, 2018). In her Second Motion, Plaintiff seeks an award of "fees-on-fees," i.e., the attorneys' fees she incurred in litigating her initial fees petition.

Plaintiff contends that she is entitled to $19,884.83 in fees-on-fees. In particular, Plaintiff seeks reimbursement at 75% of the USAO Matrix hourly rate, which this court applied in calculating her fees award associated with the underlying merits litigation. Defendant District of Columbia does not contest the number of hours spent by Plaintiff's counsel, but does oppose Plaintiff's proposed hourly rates. Defendant asserts that the court should only award Plaintiff fees at 50% of the USAO Matrix rates applicable to her counsel at the time the services were performed. Thus, according to Defendant, Plaintiff is entitled to no more than $8,790.70 in fees-on-fees.1

After considering the parties' submissions and the relevant law, the court grants in part and denies in part Plaintiff's Second Motion for Attorneys' Fees, and awards Plaintiff $19,361.63 in fees-on-fees.

II.

Under the IDEA, a "court, in its discretion, may award reasonable attorneys' fees as part of the costs ... to a prevailing party who is the parent of a child with a disability." 20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(3)(B)(i)(I). As relevant here, the IDEA also allows "[p]arties who prevail at the administrative level [to] recover fees-on-fees ... for time reasonably devoted to obtaining attorney's fees." McNeil v. District of Columbia , 233 F.Supp.3d 150, 153 (D.D.C. 2017) (alterations in original) (emphasis added) (quoting Kaseman v. District of Columbia , 444 F.3d 637, 640 (D.C. Cir. 2006) ); see also Jones v. District of Columbia , 153 F.Supp.3d 114, 118 (D.D.C. 2015) ("The availability of reasonable attorneys' fees applies to fees incurred in IDEA litigation both before administrative agencies and in federal court, as well as to fees incurred to vindicate a plaintiff's right to fees.").

In its previous decision granting in part Plaintiff's initial motion for attorneys' fees and costs, this court outlined the relevant legal standards governing motions for attorneys' fees brought pursuant to the IDEA's fee-shifting provision, see generally Lee , 298 F.Supp.3d at ----, 2018 WL 400754, and the court need not repeat those standards in detail here. As noted above, the parties dispute the "reasonable hourly rate" that should be used to calculate Plaintiff's award of attorneys' fees, which "turns on three sub-elements: (1) 'the attorney['s] billing practices,' (2) 'the attorney['s] skill, experience, and reputation' and (3) 'the prevailing market rates in *60the relevant community.' " Reed v. District of Columbia , 843 F.3d 517, 521 (D.C. Cir. 2016) (quoting Eley v. District of Columbia , 793 F.3d 97, 100 (D.C. Cir. 2015) ).

III.

In this case, Plaintiff seeks an award of fees-on-fees for the services of three lawyers: Carolyn Houck, Charles Moran, and Stevie Nabors. Pl.'s Reply to Def.'s Opp'n to Pl.'s Second Mot. for Attorneys' Fees, ECF No. 31 [hereinafter Pl.'s Reply], Ex., Updated Statement of Account, ECF No. 31-1 [hereinafter Updated Invoice]. Houck is a solo practitioner in St. Michaels, Maryland, and Moran and Nabors are with the law firm of Moran & Associates located in Washington, D.C. Lee , 298 F.Supp.3d at 9-10, 2018 WL 400754, at *3. Plaintiff also seeks an award for the services of Joseph Golinker, a law clerk at Moran & Associates. See Pl.'s Second Mot. for Attorneys' Fees, ECF No. 29 [hereinafter Pl.'s 2d Mot.], Ex., Decl. of Joseph Golinker, ECF No. 29-4 [hereinafter Golinker Decl.]. The court already addressed the evidence supporting these attorneys' billing practices, as well as their skill, experience, and reputation, in its previous decision.2 See generally Lee , 298 F.Supp.3d at 11-13, 2018 WL 400754, at *5-6. Thus, only the last, and perhaps most important, sub-element is at issue here-the prevailing market rate in the relevant community.

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Lee v. Dist. of Columbia, 303 F. Supp. 3d 57 (D.C. Cir. 2018).

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