Kohan v. Lucid Group USA

Background

Emil James Kohan brought warranty claims under California’s Song-Beverly Act against Lucid Group USA, Inc. The court had previously granted Lucid’s motion to compel arbitration. Nine months later, Kohan accepted Lucid’s offer of judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 68. The offer provided for payment of $165,537.27 and represented that the amount included the financed purchase price of the vehicle, incidental and consequential damages, and civil penalties.

Kohan moved for attorneys’ fees and costs, seeking $115,429.50 in fees and $5,850.18 in costs. The parties did not dispute that Kohan was the prevailing party and was entitled to reasonable fees, costs, and expenses under California Civil Code section 1794(d). The dispute concerned the reasonableness of the amount requested.

Attorneys’ Fees

The court used the lodestar method, which calculates fees by multiplying the reasonable number of hours worked by a reasonable hourly rate. It rejected the addition of $100 to each lawyer’s rate for taking the case on a contingency basis and found that Kohan had not provided sufficient evidence that the requested rates matched rates for comparable work in the Northern District of California.

The court set the hourly rates at $550 for Hovanes Margarian, $450 for Armen Margarian, $450 for Shushanik Margarian, $600 for Patrick Kimball, and $150 for the legal assistant. It also reduced the compensable hours. The court reduced by 30 percent the time recorded for 50 vague client-communication entries totaling 7.1 hours. It found excessive the time spent after acceptance of the Rule 68 offer, including time devoted to the fee motion, and made the reductions described in the order. It excluded time spent preparing billing records, reduced by half the time spent preparing a stipulation and case update, and excluded time for a vacated case-management conference and an unfiled dismissal.

The court allowed the time spent negotiating the Rule 68 offer, even though Kohan did not obtain a better settlement. It also found that opposing arbitration was not frivolous, although it reduced the five hours claimed for preparing a nine-page brief by half. The court excluded clerical time and imposed an additional across-the-board 10 percent reduction because of clerical entries, excessive or duplicative billing, and the use of four attorneys in a straightforward case.

These adjustments produced a lodestar of $37,333. After the 10 percent reduction of $3,730, the resulting fee award was $33,603.

Multiplier

Kohan requested a 1.5 multiplier. The court declined to award one. It noted that the settlement amount was less than the payments alleged in the complaint and found that the case was routine, involved few procedural demands, and required limited legal skill. The court also concluded that the factors used to evaluate a multiplier did not support an increase.

Costs and Disposition

Kohan requested $5,850.18 in litigation costs and expenses but had not substantiated the request or filed the promised verified bill of costs. The court therefore did not award the requested costs.

The court granted in part and denied in part Kohan’s motion for attorneys’ fees and costs, awarded $33,603 in attorneys’ fees, and stated that the order disposed of Docket No. 31.