Lodestar for National Firm Lawyers Representing Athletes Concededly May Be Higher In Nature and Justification.
We can report that U.S. District Judge Larry R. Hicks of the District of Nevada has filed an interesting discovery sanctions order involving attorney’s fees in Pacquiao v. Mayweather, Case No. 2:09-cv-2448-LRH-RJJ (Doc. 240, filed 9/17/12).
In that order, District Judge Hicks granted plaintiff Emmaneul Pacquiao’s motion for an award of attorney’s fees against defendant Floyd Mayweather, Jr. as a discovery sanction for failure to attend a deposition in disobedience of a prior court order denying Mr. Mayweather’s protective order motion. (The underlying dispute, between two well known professional boxers, was Mr. Pacquiao’s defamation action against Mr. Mayweather arising from allegations that Mayweather publicly stated that Pacquiao used performance enhancing drugs.) The district court awarded $113,518.50 in fees against Mr. Mayweather. In doing so, the federal judge found that a lodestar of $505.84 per hour was reasonable given the experience of the attorneys. “In such an action as this, between two widely known professional athletes, the parties can reasonably be expected to retain nationally respected law firms and nationally respected attorneys to pursue their interests in the litigation. The results of such representation are going to be higher lodestars than normally seen in this district, but lodestars that are comparable to the amount and quality of work performed and expected to be performed.”
John L. Sullivan. Circa 1887. Library of Congress.