Orson, Inc. v. Miramax Film, Corp.

• Decision Date: 21 July 1998
• Docket Number: No. Civ.A. 93-4145.,Civ.A. 93-4145.
• Citation: 14 F.Supp.2d 721
• Parties: ORSON, INC. d/b/a The Roxy Screening Rooms, Plaintiff, v. MIRAMAX FILM, CORP., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania

14 F.Supp.2d 721

ORSON, INC. d/b/a The Roxy Screening Rooms, Plaintiff, v. MIRAMAX FILM, CORP., Defendant.

No. Civ.A. 93-4145.

United States District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania.

July 21, 1998.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Paul R. Rosen, Jeffrey M. Goldstein, Richard J. Perr, Spector Gadon & Rosen, Philadelphia, PA, for plaintiff.

Thomas E. Zemaitis, Barbara T. Sicalides, Donald J. Carney, Pepper, Hamilton & Scheetz, Philadelphia, PA, for defendant.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

JOYNER, District Judge.

Presently before the Court is plaintiffs, Orson, Inc. d/b/a/ The Roxy Screening Rooms ("plaintiff" or "Orson"), Petition for Attorneys' Fees and Costs and defendant's, Miramax, Inc. ("defendant" or "Miramax"), response thereto. For the following reasons, the Motion is granted in part and denied in part.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff filed a three count complaint against defendant on August 2, 1993. Plaintiff subsequently filed amended complaints ultimately alleging violations of section 1 of the Sherman Act; the Pennsylvania common law against unreasonable restraint of trade; and sections 203-4, 203-7, and 203-8 of the Pennsylvania Feature Motion Picture Fair Business Practices Law, 73 P.S. § 203-1 et. seq. ("the Pennsylvania Act" or "the Act"). During the course of the proceedings, plaintiff filed a motion for injunctive relief to maintain the status quo pending this litigation, which was denied on November 9, 1993. See 836 F.Supp. 309 (E.D.Pa.1993). We also denied plaintiff's motion for reconsideration of this denial of injunctive relief. See 1994 WL 7708 (1994). Further, this Court granted Miramax's Motion for Summary Judgment as to Counts I and II and granted partial summary judgment as to Count III of plaintiff's Second Amended Complaint. See 862 F.Supp. 1378 (1994). Plaintiff appealed the summary judgment ruling to the Third Circuit, which affirmed the grant of summary judgment as to Counts I and II (the Sherman Act and common law against unreasonable restraint of trade claims), but vacated and remanded as to Count III (the Pennsylvania Act claim). See 79 F.3d 1358 (3d Cir. 1996). At trial, we granted Miramax's Rule 50(a) Motion for plaintiff's claims that Miramax violated sections 203-4 and 203-8 of the Pennsylvania Act. Thus, the jury deliberated and rendered a verdict only as to Miramax's violation of 203-7, the 42-day provision. The jury determined that Miramax violated the statutory provision with regard to seventeen (17) Miramax films and awarded plaintiff damages in the amount of $159,780. Miramax subsequently filed a motion for post trial relief, which was denied by the Court on November 3, 1997. See 983 F.Supp. 624.

Plaintiff's present petition requests an award of attorneys' fees in the amount of $711,982.50 (this includes a fee amount of $593,319 .00¹ multiplied by a 1.2 enhancement percentage) and costs in the amount of $72,102.57.²

I. Fees

A. Legal Standard for Awarding Attorneys' Fees

In a petition for attorneys' fees, the petitioner has the burden of showing that the fees and costs requested are reasonable by producing evidence that supports the hours and costs claimed. See Rode v. Dellarciprete, 892 F.2d 1177, 1183 (3d Cir.1990); see also Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 433, 103 S.Ct. 1933, 76 L.Ed.2d 40 (1983). The party requesting fees bears the ?burden of substantiating the hours expended on the litigation and the reasonableness of its requested hourly rate. Hensley, 461 U.S. at 433, 103 S.Ct. 1933. The opposing party then has the burden of providing a sufficient basis to contest the reasonableness of the fees. Once an objection is made, the court has considerable discretion to adjust the fee award for any reason put forth by the opposing party. Rode, 892 F.2d at 1183.

In determining the amount of attorneys' fees to award, the court's first task is to determine the lodestar. The lodestar is a computation of the reasonable hourly rate multiplied by the number of hours reasonably expended by the attorney. Hensley, 461 U.S. at 433, 103 S.Ct. 1933. The lodestar produces a presumptively reasonable calculation of attorneys' fees. Washington v. Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, 89 F.3d 1031, 1035 (3d Cir.1996).

The opposing party may object to the lodestar calculation, calling into question either the reasonableness of the hourly rate requested or the reasonable hours expended. In objecting to the reasonable hours expended, the opposing party may request a reduction of the lodestar on the grounds that, inter alia, the hours expended on the litigation were excessive, redundant, or unnecessary. Hensley, 461 U.S. at 434, 103 S.Ct. 1933. Further, the court can reduce the number of hours expended on "litigating claims on which the party did not succeed and that were `distinct in all respects from' claims on which the party did succeed." Rode, 892 F.2d at 1183.

After determining the lodestar, the court can make further adjustments "if the lodestar is not reasonable in light of the results obtained. This general reduction accounts for time spent litigating wholly or partially unsuccessful claims that are related to the litigation of the successful claims." Id. (citing Hensley, 461 U.S. at 434-37, 103 S.Ct. 1933). An adjustment to the lodestar on the basis of partial success should be "taken independently of the other adjustments and should be the first adjustment applied to the lodestar." Id.

B. The Lodestar Calculation

1. Reasonableness of Hourly Rate

Defendant does not raise an objection to the reasonableness of the hourly rates charged by plaintiff's counsel. Therefore, we will accept as reasonable the hourly rates indicated by plaintiff's counsel in plaintiff's Memorandum. See (Pl.'s Mem. at pages 27-28).

2. Reasonableness of Hours Expended

Defendant challenges the reasonableness of the hours expended on several grounds which will be discussed separately as follows.

a. Lack of Specificity in Record Keeping

Defendant first attempts to argue that the time entries submitted by plaintiff's counsel lack sufficient specificity to allow this Court to determine the fee amount. Our Court of Appeals has held that "specificity should only be required to the extent necessary for the district court `to determine if the hours claimed are unreasonable for the work performed.' "Washington, 89 F.3d at 1037 (quoting Rode, 892 F.2d at 1190 (internal citations omitted)). The Third Circuit further explained that

a fee petition should include `some fairly definite information as to the hours devoted to various general activities, e.g., pre-trial discovery, settlement negotiations, and the hours spent by various classes of attorneys, e.g., senior partners, junior partners, associates.' However, `it is not necessary to know the exact number of minutes spent nor the precise activity to which each hour was devoted nor the specific attainments of each attorney.'

Id. at 1037-38 (quoting Rode, 892 F.2d at 1190 (internal citations omitted)).

We find that the time sheets submitted by plaintiff's counsel are sufficiently specific to allow the Court to determine if the hours claimed are reasonable for the work performed. See (Pl.'s Mem. at Exhibit A). Thus, we will make no reductions on this basis.

b. Excessiveness of Hours Expended

Defendant next attacks many of the time entries of plaintiff's counsel as excessive. We agree that some of the entries reflect an excessive amount of time spent on the task indicated, as shown in Appendix A. By way of example, we find excessive the 4.8 hours spent by Neil Korup ("Korup") on 8/2/93 for "[f]inaliz[ing] file serve complaint request for documents and 30(b)(6) deposition notice." This time entry is excessive for these tasks especially in light of the $225 per hour billing rate of Korup. See Ursic v. Bethlehem Mines, 719 F.2d 670, 677 (3d Cir. 1983) (discussing effects of billing at a high hourly rate). Thus, this entry was reduced by 2 hours. Appendix A outlines all of the entries we find excessive; these entries result in a reduction of the lodestar calculation in an amount of $13,270.50.³ See Appendix A.

c. Hours Expended on Clerical Tasks

Defendant further attacks many of the time entries as representing clerical tasks that should not be billed at attorney and/or paralegal rates. The Third Circuit has stated that "[w]e cannot condone `the wasteful use of highly skilled and highly priced talent for matters easily delegable to non-professionals.'" Halderman v. Pennhurst State School & Hosp., 49 F.3d 939, 942 (3d Cir.1995) (quoting Ursic v. Bethlehem Mines, 719 F.2d 670, 677 (3d Cir.1983)). Some of the time entries reflect tasks that are clerical in nature. For example, many hours were billed for photocopying. We will take a reduction of the lodestar in the amount of $5,752 to account for these clerical tasks as reflected in Appendix B.⁴

d. Hours Expended that Were Unrelated to Successful Claims

Defendants have requested sweeping reductions to the hours expended based on the unrelatedness of certain time entries to the ultimately successful litigation. In order for the Court to make these reductions, the time entries must not only indicate time spent on unsuccessful litigation, but must also be "'distinct in all respects from' claims on which the party did succeed." Rode, 892 F.2d at 1183. Plaintiff has vigorously argued that the time entries indicated by defendant were integrally interrelated to the 42-day provision claim on which plaintiff was ultimately successful. Plaintiff has also made voluntary reductions to many of the time entries for time that was "distinct" from the successful litigation.

With the exception of one entry, the Court cannot find that the time entries defendant requests to be reduced are "distinct in all respects from the successful claim." Id. Thus, we decline to make the deductions requested by defendant. We will, however, reduce the lodestar by $470 to account for the one time entry which is sufficiently distinct to warrant reduction. See...