Navcom Technology, Inc v. OKI Semiconductor America, Inc

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedJanuary 7, 2020
Docket5:12-cv-04175
StatusUnknown

This text of Navcom Technology, Inc v. OKI Semiconductor America, Inc (Navcom Technology, Inc v. OKI Semiconductor America, Inc) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Navcom Technology, Inc v. OKI Semiconductor America, Inc, (N.D. Cal. 2020).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 SAN JOSE DIVISION 7 NAVCOM TECHNOLOGY, INC, et al., 8 Case No. 5:12-cv-04175-EJD Plaintiffs, 9 ORDER RE ATTORNEYS’ FEES v. 10 OKI ELECTRIC INDUSTRY CO, LTD, 11 Defendant. 12

13 On September 5, 2019, the Court granted in part Defendant Oki Industry Co., Ltd.’s 14 (“Defendant”) motion for fees and costs and directed the parties to meet and confer regarding the 15 amount. As a result of the meet and confer process, Plaintiffs no longer contest or request any 16 reduction of Defendant’s claim for $136,646.00 USD and ¥2,414,800 JPY fees as reflected in Exhibit 17 GG filed on November 11, 2019. Dkt. No. 423-3. Defendant, however, seeks an additional 18 $3,457,977.00 USD and ¥41,970,300 JPY in attorney fees as reflected in Exhibit FF. Dkt. No. 19 423-2. Plaintiffs assert several objections to a large portion of these additional fees and request 20 that the fees in Exhibit FF be reduced by $1,813,051.01 USD and ¥28,613,836.00 JPY. Joint 21 Statement at 1 (Dkt. No. 423). Having reviewed the Joint Statement and related Exhibits, the 22 Court orders as follows. 23 A. Clerical Work 24 Plaintiffs object to certain billing record entries as “clerical work” that could have been 25 reasonably performed by a paralegal or other non-attorney. The Court overrules nearly all of these 26 objections. Many of the so-called entries for clerical work describe attorney-level legal work such 27 as research, review of documents, discussions of various legal issues, revisions to briefs, draft 1 motion, prepare declaration, finalize briefs for filing, review and organize recently filed 2 documents, attend to joint case management statement, attend to document productions, and 3 attention to billing issues. 4 Some of the entries describe work that could have been performed by a non-attorney such 5 as update calendar, review and organize documents, file exhibits under seal, circulate 6 correspondence, circulate filing notifications, update electronic file, create certificate of service, 7 update case calendar reminder, attention to documents and create binders. The vast majority of 8 this work, however, was performed by a paralegal at a lower hourly fee rate. No reductions are 9 warranted. 10 Defendant had attorneys translate documents. It was not unreasonable for Defendant to 11 have done so given the nature of this case. See e.g. Gidding v. Anderson, No. 07-4755 JSW, 2008 12 WL 5068524 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 24, 2008) (awarding translation costs because translations were 13 reasonably necessary to the proper determination of the issues). 14 Paralegals billed at $150/hour to “[b]reak down war room; coordinate with vendors; break 15 down Courtroom and attend jury verdict readings” (10.5 hours on 5/8/14 and 6.0 hours 5/9/14), 16 and for “[t]rial; document preparation; break down war room/court room/break out rooms after 17 trial conclusion; coordinate with vendors” (137.5 hours on 5/30/14). Plaintiffs contend that the 18 “break down” could have been reasonably performed by a legal assistant or other professional at a 19 lower rate, and accordingly request a 75% reduction of each of these billing entries. The Court 20 agrees that this type of work could have been reasonably completed by an employee at a lower 21 hourly rate. Plaintiffs’ requested 75% reduction of these fees is appropriate. 22 B. Associate Work 23 Plaintiffs object to certain billing record entries as work that could have been performed by 24 a less senior attorney. The Court overrules the objection. Although it may have been theoretically 25 possible for a less senior attorney to perform certain tasks (i.e. legal research, document review, 26 document summaries, initial drafts of discovery responses and briefs, search for record citations), 27 the reality was that until the trial preparation and trial phases of this litigation, Defendant’s 1 litigation team consisted of only two United States-based partners, Labgold and Hoeffner, and no 2 associates. Defendant was entitled to its choice of counsel and, contrary to Plaintiffs’ assertion, 3 was not required to hire a law firm with associates. The Court finds the fees charged by partners 4 Labgold and Hoeffner were reasonable. 5 C. “Vague” Litigation Purpose 6 Plaintiffs object to certain entries because the “task described does not appear reasonably 7 necessary to [Defendant’s] legal defense.” Joint Statement at 3. Plaintiffs point to the following 8 examples of tasks they contend were not reasonably necessary to Defendant’s defense: “review 9 trial transcripts” (5/9/14); lengthy “meeting[s] with client” about unspecified topics (9/24/12); “review 10 of files” (3/15/13); and “editing responses” to unspecified requests (9/7/13). 11 The Court agrees with Plaintiffs that many of Defendant’s billing entries are too vague. 12 Under Ninth Circuit law, “‘counsel is not required to record in great detail how each minute of 13 [their] time was expended’” as long as “the attorneys have satisfactorily ‘identif[ied] the general 14 subject matter of [the] time expenditures.’” Pollinator Stewardship Council v. United States EPA, 15 No. 13-72346, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 13343, at *22 (9th Cir. June 27, 2017) (quoting Fischer v. 16 SJB-P.D. Inc., 214 F.3d 1115, 1121 (9th Cir. 2000)). Each of the tasks identified above— 17 reviewing transcripts, meeting with a client, reviewing files, and editing responses—are common 18 litigation tasks for which Defendant is entitled to some compensation. The entries, however, fail 19 to identify the general subject matter of the transcripts, meeting, files, and responses. The Ninth 20 Circuit has instructed that when a fee applicant’s documentation is inadequate, the district court is 21 free to reduce an applicant’s fee award. Trustee of Directors Guild of America-Producer Pension 22 Benefits Plans v. Tise, 234 F.3d 415, 427 (9th Cir. 2000); see also Robinson v. Open Top 23 Sightseeing San Francisco, LLC, No. 14-852 PJH, 2018 WL 2088392, at *4 (N.D. Cal. May 4, 24 2019) (reducing hours by 10% to account for vague entries); Gilead Sciences, Inc. v. Merck & Co., 25 Inc., No. 13-4057 BLF, 2017 WL 3007071, at *8 (N.D. Cal. July 14, 2017) (applying percentage 26 reduction to vague entries); Davis v. Prison Health Services, No. 09-2629 SI, 2012 WL 4462520, 27 at *12 (N.D. Cal. Sept. 25, 2012) (applying across-the-board 10% reduction for vague billing 1 records). Accordingly, this Court exercises its discretion to apply an across-the-board 10 percent 2 reduction to vague entries as specified in section “J” of this Order. 3 D. “Excessive” Time 4 Plaintiffs object to certain entries because “[t]he amount of time spent on the task does not 5 appear reasonable for an attorney/professional at this billable rate.” Joint Statement at 4. 6 Plaintiffs also contend that certain entries are for work that could have reasonably been performed 7 by fewer timekeepers. Plaintiffs give three examples of purportedly excessive billing by partners: 8 (1) 99.50 hours to research and draft a reply brief in support of Defendant’s motion for 9 supplemental attorney fees (5/23/19 – 5/30/19); 11 hours for a single entry of “reviewing case 10 files” (9/23/12); and more than 37.45 hours to draft a set of interrogatory responses (6/20/13 – 11 6/26/13). 12 “In challenging attorney fees as excessive because too many hours of work are claimed, it is 13 the burden of the challenging party to point to the specific items challenged, with a sufficient argument 14 and citations to the evidence.” Lunada Biomedical v. Nunez, 230 Cal. App. 4th 459, 488 (2014) 15 (quoting Premier Med. Mgmt. Sys., Inc. v. Cal. Ins.

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Bluebook (online)
Navcom Technology, Inc v. OKI Semiconductor America, Inc, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/navcom-technology-inc-v-oki-semiconductor-america-inc-cand-2020.