Pigford v. Vilsack
| Citation | 89 F.Supp.3d 25 |
| Decision Date | 31 March 2015 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 98–1693 PLF,Civil Action No. 97–1978 PLF |
| Parties | Timothy Pigford et al., Plaintiffs, v. Tom Vilsack, Secretary, United States Department of Agriculture, Defendant. Cecil Brewington et al., Plaintiffs, v. Tom Vilsack, Secretary, United States Department of Agriculture, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Columbia |
Anthony Herman, Covington & Burling LLP, David A. Branch, Law Office of David Branch, Jacob A. Stein, David U. Fierst, Stein, Mitchell & Muse, L.L.P., Richard Talbot Seymour, Law Office of Richard T. Seymour, P.L.L.C., Barbara Kim Kagan, Steptoe & Johnson, LLP, Joshua A. Doan, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, Charles Jerome Ware, Charles Jerome Ware, P.A., Columbia, MD, Faya R. Toure, Selma, AL, Charles J. Ogletree, Jr., Charles J. Ogletree Consulting, Cambridge, MA, for Timothy Pigford et al.
Matthew Josephson, Megan Anne Crowley, Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for Defendant.
Phillip L. Fraas, Stinson Morrison Hecker, LLP, John M. Shoreman, McFadden & Shoreman, LLC, Washington, DC, for Cecil Brewington et al.
This matter is before the Court on the motion for fees, costs, and expenses filed by the law firm of Cross & Kearney PLLC, which seeks $243,210.17 for work performed and expenses incurred in connection with James T. Stephenson's Track B claim. In addition, Cross & Kearney and its counsel together request $39,431.00 for fees incurred in the preparation of this fee petition. The United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) does not oppose awarding Cross & Kearney some amount in attorneys' fees and expenses, and does not dispute the hourly rates of either of the two attorneys or the paralegals who performed the work involved. But USDA argues that the award should be reduced across-the-board by 75%: a 50% reduction due to Mr. Stephenson's modest settlement, and an additional 25% reduction due to purported deficiencies in Cross & Kearney's billing records. Upon consideration of the parties' arguments, declarations, documentary submissions, and the relevant legal authorities, the Court will grant Cross & Kearney's motion in part and deny it in part, awarding fees and expenses in the amount of $268,879.65.1
James T. Stephenson is a Track B claimant who alleged that the Farmers Home Administration, an agency of the USDA, discriminated against him in the provision and servicing of farm loans on various occasions between 1981 and 1996. Mot. at 2–4. Jesse Kearney, a partner at Cross & Kearney, began representing Mr. Stephenson in February 1999 and continued to seek relief for Mr. Stephenson on his Track B claim for eleven years, until a settlement was reached on August 17, 2010. Mot., Ex. A, Declaration of Jesse Kearney (“Kearney Decl.”) [Dkt. No. 1931–2] at 1, 3. Mr. Stephenson sought $8 million in damages. Opp. at 3. The Track B Arbitrator initially granted USDA's motion to dismiss Mr. Stephenson's claim on the ground that it was barred by his wife's successful Track A claim. Id. Mr. Stephenson sought Monitor review, and the Monitor determined that the dismissal constituted clear and manifest error and directed the Arbitrator to re-examine Mr. Stephenson's claim. Mot. at 5; Opp. at 3. The parties entered mediation on August 2, 2010, and settled the Track B claim for $142,500 on August 17, 2010. Mot. at 4–5; Kearney Decl. at 3. Since then, the parties have been unable to resolve the question of attorneys' fees, costs, and expenses, which was expressly left open in the settlement agreement. Mot. at 5.
Cross & Kearney now seeks $282,641.17 in attorneys' fees, costs, and expenses under the April 14, 1999 Consent Decree; the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1691 et seq. (“ECOA”); and the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2412. Mot. at 2. USDA argues that Cross & Kearney's award should be reduced by a total of 75% to reflect Mr. Stephenson's supposedly modest settlement as well as alleged deficiencies in the law firm's billing records. Opp. at 14.
Plaintiffs who prosecute “successful action[s]” under the ECOA may seek reasonable attorneys' fees, costs, and expenses. See 15 U.S.C. § 1691e(d) (). A party prosecutes a successful action if he or she prevails in that action. Pigford v. Schafer, Civil Action No. 97–1978, Memorandum Opinion and Order (Nov. 12, 2008) [Dkt. No. 1505] at 4. For a party to be a prevailing party, it must have succeeded on a significant issue raised in the litigation and secured some of the benefit sought. Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 433, 103 S.Ct. 1933, 76 L.Ed.2d 40 (1983). In addition, this benefit must reflect a change in the legal relationship between the parties, and that change must be judicially sanctioned in some way. Blackman v. Dist. of Columbia, 328 F.Supp.2d 36, 45 (D.D.C.2004) (citing Buckhannon Bd. & Care Home, Inc. v. West Virginia Dep't of Health & Human Res., 532 U.S. 598, 604–05, 121 S.Ct. 1835, 149 L.Ed.2d 855 (2001) ). Once the court has determined that the plaintiff is a prevailing party, it then must decide whether the fees sought are reasonable by calculating “the number of hours reasonably expended on the litigation multiplied by a reasonable hourly rate”—the so-called “lodestar” fee. Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. at 433, 103 S.Ct. 1933 ; see also Sierra Club v. Jackson, 926 F.Supp.2d 341, 346 (D.D.C.2013). In this case, USDA does not contest the reasonableness of the hourly rates.
On the issue of reasonableness of the hours expended on the tasks involved, the motion for attorneys' fees must include supporting documentation, providing sufficient detail so that the court can determine “with a high degree of certainty” that the hours billed were actually and reasonably expended and that the matter was appropriately staffed to do the work required efficiently and without duplicative billing. In re Olson, 884 F.2d 1415, 1428–29 (D.C.Cir.1989) (emphasis omitted); see also Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. at 433, 103 S.Ct. 1933 ; Covington v. Dist. of Columbia, 57 F.3d 1101, 1107 (D.C.Cir.1995). At a minimum, a fee applicant must provide some information about the attorney's billing practices and hourly rate, the attorney's skill and experience, and the nature of counsel's practice as it relates to this kind of litigation. See Rooths v. Dist. of Columbia, 802 F.Supp.2d 56, 60 (D.D.C.2011). The D.C. Circuit also requires that “fee applications include contemporaneous time records of hours worked and rates claimed, plus a detailed description of the subject matter of the work with supporting documents, if any.” In re Donovan, 877 F.2d 982, 994 (D.C.Cir.1989) (citing Nat'l Ass'n of Concerned Veterans v. Sec'y of Def., 675 F.2d 1319, 1326 (D.C.Cir.1982) ).
Once a plaintiff has provided such information, there is a presumption that the number of hours billed and the hourly rates are reasonable, and the burden then shifts to the defendant to rebut the plaintiff's showing of reasonable hours and reasonable hourly rates for attorneys of the relevant level of skill and expertise. See Watkins v. Vance, 328 F.Supp.2d 23, 26 (D.D.C.2004). But “[t]he product of reasonable hours times a reasonable rate does not end the inquiry,” as “[t]here remain other considerations that may lead the district court to adjust the fee upward or downward, including the important factor of the ‘results obtained.’ ” Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. at 434, 103 S.Ct. 1933. “[W]here the plaintiff [has] achieved only limited success, the district court should award only that amount of fees that is reasonable in relation to the results obtained.” Id. at 440, 103 S.Ct. 1933 ; see also Farrar v. Hobby, 506 U.S. 103, 114–15, 113 S.Ct. 566, 121 L.Ed.2d 494 (1992). But the Court may, if appropriate, “award legal fees that substantially exceed the damages.” Pigford v. Schafer, Civil Action No. 97–1978, Memorandum Opinion and Order (Nov. 12, 2008) at 5 (quoting Johnson v. Daley, 339 F.3d 582, 587 (7th Cir.2003) ); see also Orchano v. Advanced Recovery, Inc., 107 F.3d 94, 98 (2d Cir.1997) () (citing, inter alia, City of Riverside v. Rivera, 477 U.S. 561, 564–67, 106 S.Ct. 2686, 91 L.Ed.2d 466 (1986) ).
There is no dispute that Mr. Stephenson is a prevailing party, and he therefore is entitled to reasonable fees, costs, and expenses. There is also no dispute about the reasonableness of the hourly rates. USDA raises a number of arguments, however, in support of its request for a 75% reduction of the $282,641.17 sought by Cross & Kearney. The Court will address each of USDA's arguments in turn.
USDA asks this Court to cut Cross & Kearney's requested fees in half because counsel did not obtain “excellent results” in the Track B arbitration. Opp. at 5 (quoting Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. at 435, 103 S.Ct. 1933 ). USDA contends that Cross & Kearney's fees should be reduced to reflect the supposedly limited success that counsel achieved, given the fact that Mr. Stephenson sought over $8 million in damages yet settled his Track B claim for $142,500. Id. USDA emphasizes that the fee amount Cross & Kearney seeks almost doubles the amount of Mr. Stephenson's settlement. Id. Thus, USDA requests an across-the-board reduction of 50% to achieve a “reasonable [fee] amount in relation to the results obtained.” Id. at 6.
In the context of the Pigford class action, this Court previously has awarded attorneys' fees in an amount that exceeded the damages received by a claimant, and where those damages were substantially less than the amount sought in arbitration. For example, claimant Sandy McKinnon initially sought $438,153 in economic...
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