Vodonick v. Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft

Background

John Vodonick opted out of the class-action settlements resolving most civil actions against Volkswagen AG and Volkswagen Group of America. He later accepted Volkswagen’s Rule 68 offer for $40,000. The offer permitted Vodonick to seek reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs, with the amount to be determined by the court.

Vodonick had asserted claims including violations of the Song-Beverly Act, breach of contract, unfair business practices, fraud, and product liability. He sought $1,143,935 in attorneys’ fees and $2,144 in costs. Volkswagen argued that Vodonick was entitled to only a fraction of the requested fees and costs.

Attorneys’ Fees

The court applied California law. Under California Civil Code section 1717, a prevailing party may recover reasonable attorneys’ fees in a contract action when the contract provides for such an award. Vodonick alleged that his vehicle lease contained an attorneys’ fee provision. Although he did not attach the lease to his filings, Volkswagen did not directly dispute that the lease contained the provision. The court therefore found section 1717 provided a basis for recovering attorneys’ fees.

The court found no other basis for a fee award. It also applied the lodestar method, which calculates fees by multiplying reasonable hours by a reasonable hourly rate and then considering whether an adjustment is warranted.

The court reduced Vodonick’s counsel’s requested hourly rate from $715 to $500. The court found that the evidence offered to support the $715 rate, including a fee schedule for attorneys in Washington, D.C., did not establish that rate as reasonable for comparable attorneys in the Northern District of California.

The court also reduced or excluded claimed hours in several categories:

- It excluded all 686.2 hours of docket review because the time entries were too vague to show which documents counsel reviewed or whether the time spent was reasonable. - It reduced complaint-related work from 64.3 hours to 9.65 hours because the amended complaint largely repeated the original complaint. - It excluded 4 hours spent on judicial-coordination work after the case had been removed to federal court and reduced the remaining 48 hours in that category by 90%, leaving 5 compensable hours. - It reduced 180.9 hours spent on remand motions by 95%, leaving 10 compensable hours, because the work was excessive, duplicative, or inadequately documented. - It reduced 68.9 hours of client-conference work by 90%, leaving 7 compensable hours. - It reduced 12.3 hours of fact-sheet work to 3 hours. - It excluded 6.4 hours for clerical tasks, including ordering court files, emailing a proposed order, and processing a notice of errata. - It excluded 54.5 hours spent reviewing filings for a bellwether trial that did not involve Vodonick and 57.1 additional hours the court found unrelated, unnecessary, or unrecoverable. - It reduced other disputed work by 83%, leaving 7.7 compensable hours.

The court denied Vodonick’s request for a 1.3 multiplier, which would have increased the lodestar by 30%. The court found that the case did not involve especially novel or difficult legal questions and that the case’s stay made it unclear why counsel’s involvement prevented other employment for nearly five years.

After these adjustments, the court calculated 42.35 compensable hours at $500 per hour, for a total attorneys’ fee award of $21,175.

Costs

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(d) generally allows a prevailing party to recover taxable costs. Northern District of California Local Civil Rule 54-1 requires a party seeking taxable costs to file a bill of costs supported by an affidavit and documentation. Because Vodonick did not comply with that local rule, the court found that he was not entitled to recover costs.

Disposition

Judge Charles R. Breyer granted in part and denied in part Vodonick’s motion for attorneys’ fees and costs. The court awarded Vodonick $21,175 in attorneys’ fees and did not award costs.