A&C Trade Consultants, Inc. v. Alvarez
- Maxine Chesney
- 3:18-cv-05356-MMC
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 5
In A&C Trade Consultants v. Alvarez, Judge Chesney granted in part and denied in part A&C’s fee motion, awarding $27,971.
A&C Trade Consultants, Inc. received $27,971 in attorney’s and expert witness fees from Joel E. Alvarez; the court reduced both requested amounts.
What happened
A&C Trade Consultants, Inc. had obtained a default judgment against its former employee, Joel E. Alvarez, for misappropriating trade secrets and breaching a nondisclosure agreement. The judgment awarded A&C $2,120,609 in damages.
A&C then requested attorney’s fees and forensic expert witness fees. The court found that A&C could recover fees under the federal and California trade-secret laws and the nondisclosure agreement, but it reduced the attorney-time award because some work related to other matters or defendants. The court also reduced the requested expert-fee amount to the amount supported by the evidence.
In A&C Trade Consultants, Inc. v. Alvarez, Judge Maxine M. Chesney granted in part and denied in part the motion, awarding A&C $10,725 in attorney’s fees and $17,246 in expert witness fees, for a total of $27,971.
The detailed version
- A&C Trade Consultants, Inc. v. Alvarez · No. 3:18-cv-05356-MMC
- Maxine Chesney
- Oct. 12, 2021
Background
A&C alleged that Alvarez, its former employee, misappropriated A&C’s trade secrets in violation of the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act and the California Uniform Trade Secrets Act, and breached a nondisclosure agreement. The Clerk entered Alvarez’s default on March 19, 2019. In an order filed July 12, 2021, the court granted A&C’s motion for default judgment, finding that A&C had established violations of both trade-secret laws and a breach of the agreement. The court awarded $2,120,609 in damages, and judgment was entered on August 27, 2021.
A&C filed a motion seeking attorney’s fees and expert witness fees incurred in prosecuting the action. Alvarez was served at his last known address but did not respond.
Attorney’s Fees
The court found an award of attorney’s fees appropriate under the federal and California trade-secret statutes because A&C’s complaint alleged that the misappropriation was willful and malicious and included supporting facts. The court also found an award appropriate under the nondisclosure agreement because A&C was the prevailing party on its contract claim.
A&C requested $17,225, based on 55 hours at an hourly rate of $325. Applying the lodestar method, which calculates fees by multiplying reasonable hours by a reasonable hourly rate, the court found that 33 hours were reasonably spent on claims against Alvarez. The court excluded time devoted to a separate state-court case, an unsuccessful temporary-restraining-order application, and claims against other defendants. The court found the $325 hourly rate reasonable and awarded $10,725 in attorney’s fees.
Expert Witness Fees
A&C also sought reimbursement for forensic accounting services provided by Ueno & Hoe CPAs. The court found that the services were actually incurred and reasonably necessary to establish the amount Alvarez diverted from A&C, which A&C had presented in support of its default-judgment motion.
A&C requested $19,425, but the supporting declarations stated that Ueno and Hoe had billed $17,246. The court therefore awarded $17,246 in expert witness fees.
Disposition
Judge Maxine M. Chesney granted in part and denied in part A&C’s motion. The court awarded A&C $10,725 in attorney’s fees and $17,246 in expert witness fees, for a total award of $27,971.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.