Cases: Block Billing

Allocation, Block Billing, Hourly Rates, Lodestar, Trade Secrets: Seattle Federal District Judge Awarded Prevailing Plaintiff Parties In Trade Secrets Act Case About $1.25 Million In Fees And A Little Over $42,000 In Costs

Cases: Allocation, Cases: Block Billing, Cases: Hourly Rates, Cases: Lodestar, Cases: Trade Secrets

Small Reductions Were Made, And No Allocation Was Required. Under both Washington’s Uniform Trade Secrets Act and the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act, there are attorney’s fees shifting provisions in favor of a prevailing plaintiff proving that the trade secret was willfully and maliciously misappropriated.  These fee entitlements were operative in Silver Fern Chemical, Inc.

Block Billing, Multipliers, Reasonableness Of Fees: Plaintiff’s Counsel’s Inflated Fee Request In A Non-complex FEHA Case Where Block Billing And Failure To Explain Proliferation In Fees For A Six Month Period Through Trial Justified A Drastic Reduct

Cases: Block Billing, Cases: Multipliers, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees

Fee Request Was About $1.75 Million In A Case Where $36,757.25 In Damages Was Awarded, With A Lower Court Awarding Only $135,102.                Inflated fee requests are often reduced substantially and sometimes denied altogether.  In the next case, block billing, failure to explain a huge jump in the fee request for a six-month period, use

Block Billing, Substantiation Of Reasonableness Of Fees: Where Attorney’s Fee Request Was Modest, An Attorney In A Firm Can Substantiate His Firm’s Fees And Block Billing Was Not An Issue Where Fee Request Was Not Substantial

Cases: Block Billing, Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

However, Block Billing Is A Problem In A Complex Case With Multiple Billing Attorneys Involved.             In Minser v. Collect Access, LLC, Case Nos. B318325/B321996 (2d Dist., Div. 1 May 24, 2023) (unpublished), plaintiff prevailed on a Rosenthal Act debt collector claim, which has a fee shifting provision under Civil Code section 1788.30(c).  The lower

Block Billing, Reasonableness Of Fees: Even With Block Billing, $170,000 Fee Award—After A $64,000 Reduction—Was No Abuse Of Discretion

Cases: Block Billing, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees

Block Billing Criticisms Are Fair, Depending On The Circumstances.             Simons v. Superior Court, Case No. B309885 (2d Dist., Div. 3 Mar. 25, 2022) (unpublished) is a situation where the appellate court affirmed a Civil Code section 1717 fee award, even with high hourly rates and block billing, when the fee factual finder awarded $170,000

Block Billing, Special Fee Shifting Statute: Nike Is Awarded About $260,000 In Attorney’s Fees Against Michael Avenatti Under The Mandatory Victims Restitution Act

Cases: Block Billing, Cases: Special Fee Shifting Statutes

Block Billing Hampered Apportionment Of Fees, With District Judge Only Awarding About A Third Of The Ask.             It is not often that we post on a criminal case, but the publicity generated and interesting fee-shifting statute involved in USA v. Avenatti, Case No. (SI) 19 Cr. 373 (PGG) (S.D.N.Y. Doc. 34, Mem. and Order

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