Johnson v. Cala Stevens Creek/Monroe, LLC

Background

Scott Johnson brought claims against Cala Stevens Creek/Monroe, LLC, Cala Stevens Creek/Monroe, LP, and Cala Holdings, LLC under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act. The claims concerned allegedly inaccessible parking at Sunny Valley Spa. The court had previously granted Johnson summary judgment on his Unruh Act claim, dismissed his Americans with Disabilities Act claim for mootness and lack of jurisdiction, and entered judgment in Johnson’s favor on the Unruh Act claim.

Johnson moved for attorney’s fees, litigation expenses, and costs. His counsel initially sought $48,816, consisting of $41,829 in fees for 85.8 hours and $6,897 in litigation costs and expenses. Counsel later sought an additional $4,100 for 8.2 hours spent preparing the reply and for oral argument that did not occur, for a total request of $52,916. Defendants argued that the motion was untimely, that the hourly rates were excessive, that some hours were not reasonably or necessarily spent, and that expert costs were improper.

Timeliness

The court rejected the argument that the fee motion was untimely. Although the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the court’s local rules generally require a fee motion within 14 days after judgment, the court had ordered Johnson to wait 30 days after the settlement conference before filing. The court held that this order superseded the ordinary deadline and did not make the motion untimely because it set no final filing deadline.

Attorney’s Fees

The court used the lodestar method, which generally calculates fees by multiplying reasonable hours by reasonable hourly rates. It found that counsel had not adequately justified the requested rates of $650 per hour for some attorneys, $500 per hour for others, and $410 per hour for the remaining attorneys. The court set reasonable rates at $475 per hour for Potter, Handy, and Grace; $350 per hour for Carson, Melton, D. Price, and Seabock; and $300 per hour for Goodman, Gunderson, McAllister, Montgomery, P. Price, and Smith.

The court also reduced the compensable hours. It found at least 93 billing entries, totaling 9.6 hours, that charged for reviewing short, routine docket entries and orders or giving simple instructions to assistants. It reduced those hours by 50%, resulting in a 4.8-hour reduction. It also reduced Seabock’s hours by 0.2 hours and reduced D. Price’s 8.2 hours for the reply by 3 hours because one hour was for oral argument that did not occur and approximately two hours were attributed to a confusing and unnecessary chart. The court calculated 80.8 compensable hours before the reply and 5.2 compensable reply hours, and determined that the appropriate lodestar was $30,023.75.

Litigation Expenses and Costs

The court denied Johnson’s request for $6,400 in litigation expenses, consisting of $400 for an investigation and $6,000 for expert fees. It reasoned that the Americans with Disabilities Act claim had been dismissed, while the Unruh Act does not provide for reimbursement of out-of-pocket litigation expenses. The court also found that the expert declaration concerning attorney-fee rates was not crucial or indispensable to the disability-access litigation.

The court granted the unopposed request for $587 in service costs and filing fees. It treated those amounts as recoverable costs under 28 U.S.C. § 1920, while noting that investigation and expert expenses were not recoverable under that statute.

Disposition

The court granted in part and denied in part Johnson’s motion for attorney’s fees and costs. It awarded $30,023.75 in attorney’s fees and $587 in service costs and filing fees. The motion was otherwise denied.