Hong v. Mommy's Jamaican Market Corp.
- Lewis Liman
- 1:20-cv-09612
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 13
In Hong v. Mommy’s Jamaican Market Corp., Judge Liman partly granted and partly denied Defendants’ fee application, awarding $37,108.74.
Defendants received a reduced award of attorneys’ fees and the full amount of requested costs for bringing the sanctions motion; the order reduced the amount they sought.
What happened
In Hong v. Mommy’s Jamaican Market Corp., Defendants sought reimbursement for fees and costs incurred in bringing a sanctions motion against their former attorney. The court had previously ruled that Defendants could recover those expenses, even though it did not award them the sanctions themselves.
The court reduced the requested hourly rates and cut the requested hours by 35% because the work was not sufficiently complex, some tasks were excessive or unnecessary, and many time entries combined multiple tasks. It awarded Defendants $35,972.50 in fees and the full $1,136.24 in requested costs.
Judge Lewis J. Liman granted in part and denied in part Defendants’ fee application, for a total award of $37,108.74.
The detailed version
- Hong v. Mommy's Jamaican Market Corp. · No. 1:20-cv-09612
- Lewis Liman
- Sept. 25, 2024
Background
After a trial, both sides moved for sanctions against Defendants’ former attorney, Peter Y. Lee. In an earlier order, the court sanctioned Mr. Lee but determined that the sanctions would be paid to Plaintiff and the court, rather than to Defendants. The court nevertheless held that Defendants could recover the fees and costs they incurred in bringing their sanctions motion under 28 U.S.C. § 1927 and the court’s inherent authority. The court directed Defendants to submit a fee application.
Defendants requested $97,178.75 in attorneys’ fees and $1,136.24 in costs for work performed by two shareholders, one associate, two paralegals, and a summer associate. They sought compensation for 184.35 hours spent investigating and briefing the sanctions motion, attending the related hearing, and preparing the fee application. No opposition was filed.
Hourly Rates
The court used the lodestar method, which calculates fees by multiplying a reasonable hourly rate by a reasonable number of hours. It found that the sanctions issues were not especially complex, involved relatively few documents, did not require complex electronic discovery or experts, and did not involve novel or unsettled legal questions.
The court also compared the requested rates with rates previously awarded in this case and in similar wage-and-hour matters. It set the following reasonable hourly rates:
- Joseph Barbiere: $425 per hour - Eric S. Latzer: $375 per hour - Matthew A. Barish: $300 per hour - Suhailah S. Sallie: $125 per hour - Frances Pisano: $125 per hour - Andrew M. Somple: $125 per hour
Hours and Fees
The court found that some of the claimed hours were excessive, redundant, or unnecessary. Examples included senior attorneys performing work that could have been handled by junior attorneys, extensive research on straightforward issues, excessive time on a nine-page reply brief, unnecessary attendance and preparation by both shareholders for the sanctions hearing, and work performed after the sanctions decision that was not recoverable as part of bringing the motion. The court also found that block billing made it difficult to evaluate individual tasks.
The court therefore applied an across-the-board 35% reduction to the requested hours. The resulting fee calculation was:
- Joseph Barbiere: 12.8 hours at $425 per hour, or $5,440.00 - Eric S. Latzer: 23.5 hours at $375 per hour, or $8,812.50 - Matthew A. Barish: 65.4 hours at $300 per hour, or $19,620.00 - Suhailah S. Sallie: 12.7 hours at $125 per hour, or $1,587.50 - Frances Pisano: 0.5 hours at $125 per hour, or $62.50 - Andrew M. Somple: 3.6 hours at $125 per hour, or $450.00
The court awarded $35,972.50 in attorneys’ fees.
Costs and Disposition
The court found that the requested $1,136.24 in costs—including online legal research, a deposition transcript, court fees, and printing or photocopying—was adequately documented, reasonable, and commonly reimbursed. It awarded the full amount of those costs.
Judge Lewis J. Liman ordered that Defendants’ fee application was GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART. The total award was $35,972.50 in attorneys’ fees plus $1,136.24 in costs, for $37,108.74.
Read the full 13-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.