White v. United States Army Corps of Engineers
- Jacquelyn Corley
- 3:22-cv-06143
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 10
In Sean K White v. United States Army Corps of Engineers, Judge Corley granted in part and denied in part White’s fee motion, awarding $361,642.89.
Sean K White received $361,642.89 in attorney’s fees, expert-witness fees, and costs. The defendants were not required to pay White’s requested compensation for his own expert work or the unsupported portion of his claimed costs.
What happened
Sean K White sued the United States Army Corps of Engineers and others, alleging that dam operations harmed protected salmonids in violation of the Endangered Species Act. The court previously granted White summary judgment on the merits, and the parties later settled their claims while agreeing to address fees and costs.
White requested attorney’s fees, expert-witness fees, and costs. The defendants challenged some requests, including compensation for White’s own time and certain expenses.
Judge Jacquelyn Corley granted in part and denied in part White’s motion. The court awarded $279,990 in attorney’s fees, $71,125 for Robert Klamt’s expert work, and $10,527.89 in costs, for a total of $361,642.89; it denied the remaining requests and closed the case.
The detailed version
- White v. United States Army Corps of Engineers · No. 3:22-cv-06143
- Jacquelyn Corley
- Oct. 8, 2025
Background
Sean K White sued the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and other defendants under the Endangered Species Act. He alleged that flood-control releases from Coyote Valley Dam into the Russian River caused the unlawful taking of protected salmonids under Section 9 and that the Army Corps and the National Marine Fisheries Service failed to reinitiate consultation under Section 7.
The court denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss and denied White’s motion for a preliminary injunction. It later denied the defendants’ motion for summary judgment and granted White’s motion for summary judgment on the merits, while holding his request for injunctive relief in abeyance. The parties then reached a settlement and agreed to negotiate White’s request for fees and costs.
Fee and Cost Analysis
The Endangered Species Act allows a court to award reasonable attorney’s fees, expert-witness fees, and other litigation costs to a prevailing party when appropriate. The parties agreed that White prevailed on his claims and could seek such an award.
The court applied the lodestar method, which generally calculates attorney’s fees by multiplying reasonable hours by a reasonable hourly rate. White requested a $675 hourly rate for attorney Philip Williams. The court found that the relevant market was the Northern District of California, with rates in Mendocino County more relevant than San Francisco rates because the case, counsel’s work, and related activities were centered there. The court set Williams’s reasonable rate at $540 per hour and found 518.5 hours of work reasonable, awarding $279,990 in attorney’s fees.
The court also awarded $5,841.81 in costs connected to Williams, including $1,341.81 in complaint and hotel costs and $4,500 paid to Peter Prows for a letter concerning reasonable fee rates.
White requested $100,800 in expert-witness fees for 252 hours he spent participating in the case in an expert capacity. The court denied that request because White had not incurred a payment for another expert’s services; he had contributed his own expertise. The court did award $4,686.08 in White’s actual costs, supported by receipts for turbidity sampling, laboratory analysis, and related images. It did not award the full $5,223.73 requested because receipts for three listed expenses were missing.
The court awarded the full $71,125 requested for Robert Klamt’s expert-witness work. Klamt had worked 142.25 hours at a $500 hourly rate, and the defendants did not object to that request.
Disposition
The court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part White’s motion for attorney’s fees and costs. It granted $279,990 in attorney’s fees for Williams; $1,341.81 in Williams’s complaint and hotel costs; $4,500 in fee-expert costs for Prows through Williams; $4,686.08 in White’s costs; and $71,125 in expert-witness fees for Klamt. The court otherwise DENIES White’s motion.
The total award was $361,642.89. The order disposed of Docket No. 112, and the clerk was directed to close the case.
Read the full 10-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.