Starr Indemnity & Liability Company v. Point Ruston LLC

Opinion

5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 6 AT SEATTLE 7 8 STARR INDEMNITY & LIABILITY Case No. C20-5539-RSL COMPANY, 9 ORDER GRANTING 10 Plaintiff, DEFENDANT’S RENEWED 11 v. MOTION FOR OLYMPIC STEAMSHIP FEES 12 POINT RUSTON LLC, et al., 13 Defendants. 14 15 This matter comes before the Court on defendants’ Renewed Motion for Olympic 16 Steamship Fees (Dkt. # 92). The motion is unopposed. See Local Rules W.D. Wash. 7(b)(2) 17 (explaining “if a party fails to file papers in opposition to a motion, such failure may be 18 considered by the court as an admission that the motion has merit”). 19 Under Washington law, “an award of fees is required in any legal action where the 20 insurer compels the insured to assume the burden of legal action[ ] to obtain the full benefit of 21 his insurance contract . . . .” Olympic Steamship Co., Inc. v. Centennial Ins. Co., 117 Wn.2d 37, 22 53 (1991). Plaintiff filed this action seeking a judicial declaration that plaintiff had no duty to 23 defend or indemnify defendants with respect to claims regarding defendants’ management of the 24 Point Ruston real estate project asserted in the state court action Thomsen Ruston LLC v. Point 25 Ruston LLC, Pierce County Superior Court, Civil Case No. 20-2-05437-8. This Court found 26 plaintiff has a duty to defend defendants in the underlying action, (Dkt. # 62), a conclusion that 27 was affirmed by the Ninth Circuit (Dkt. # 76). Accordingly, defendants are entitled to an award 28 of attorney fees pursuant to Olympic Steamship with regard to Starr’s duty to defend. 1 An Olympic Steamship award is an equitable remedy designed to ensure that the insured 2 gets the full benefit of its contract. Panorama Village Condo. Owners Ass’n Bd. of Dirs. v. 3 Allstate Ins. Co., 144 Wn.2d 130, 143-44 (2001). The intent to make the insured whole is 4 clear. See Leingang v. Pierce County Med. Bureau, Inc., 131 Wn.2d 133, 149 5 (1997) (citing McGreevy v. Oregon Mutual Ins. Co., 128 Wn.2d 26, 40 (1995)). Thus, this fee 6 award should include “all of the expenses necessary to establish coverage.” Panorama Village, 7 144 Wn.2d at 144. Here, defendants have limited their request to the attorney fees incurred in 8 connection with Starr’s duty to defend, plus the fees incurred in connection with this motion. 9 Dkt. # 92 at 2 (citing Fisher Properties Inc. v. Arden-Mayfair, Inc., 115 Wn.2d 364, 378 (1990) 10 (explaining the “general rule” that “time spent on establishing entitlement to, and amount of, a 11 court awarded attorney fee is compensable where the fee shifts to the opponent under fee 12 shifting statutes”)). 13 While Olympic Steamship itself does not require that equitable fee awards be 14 “reasonable,” Eagle W. Ins. Co. v. SAT, 2400, LLC, No. C15-1098-RSL, 2017 WL 6033158 15 (W.D. Wash. Jan. 12, 2017), the Washington Supreme Court has interpreted Olympic Steamship 16 as providing for an award of “reasonable attorney fees.” See Panorama Village, 144 Wn.2d at 17 144. After reviewing the instant motion and related materials, as well as defendant’s initial 18 motion for attorney’s fees (Dkt. # 68) and materials related to that motion, the Court finds that 19 the hours incurred and rates applied ($550 and $570 per hour) are reasonable. 20 For all of the foregoing reasons, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT defendants’ motion 21 for attorney’s fees (Dkt. # 92) is GRANTED. Starr Indemnity & Liability Company shall, within 22 twenty days of the date of this order, pay to defendants attorney's fees in the amount of 23 $57,485.1 24 25 26

27 1 This figure represents defendant’s lodestar calculation ($55,164.50) plus fees incurred in 28 connection with this motion ($2,320.50). 1 DATED this 21st day of November, 2022. 2 3 4 A 5 Robert S. Lasnik 6 United States District Judge 7

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