United States v. Aden

Background

Based on the parties’ stipulation, the court previously entered a permanent injunction against Abdala Aden, doing business as LaFoole Tax Services. The injunction required Aden to provide certain information to the government and prohibited him from engaging in certain federal tax-return preparation services.

The government later sought a contempt finding because Aden did not provide information required by the injunction. The court ordered him to appear at a July 27, 2022 hearing, but he did not appear. The government’s lawyer traveled from Washington, D.C., to attend the hearing and requested attorney’s fees and expenses. After Aden later participated through counsel, the court granted in part and denied in part the government’s earlier contempt motion. Among other things, it declined to impose the requested daily fine because that sanction would not further compel compliance. The court then allowed Aden to respond to the separate request for fees and expenses.

Arguments

The government requested $3,718.75 in attorney’s fees, calculated using a $125 hourly rate, plus $911.97 in airfare, lodging, and transportation expenses. Aden argued that the Equal Access to Justice Act did not authorize the United States to recover fees and expenses from him. He also argued that the government had not submitted detailed time records, had not truly prevailed because it did not obtain a daily fine, and should not recover costs because he had earlier provided an affidavit stating that he did not remember or have access to some required information.

Court’s Analysis

The court declined to resolve whether the Equal Access to Justice Act itself authorized the government’s recovery. It read the government’s reference to that statute as identifying a potentially reasonable hourly rate rather than asserting that the statute independently supplied the authority for the award. The court held that, regardless, a compensatory civil-contempt sanction could reimburse the government for actual losses caused by Aden’s contempt.

The court rejected Aden’s argument that his earlier affidavit showed that the government’s expenses were self-inflicted. It relied on its prior determination that the affidavit did not establish an inability to comply with the relevant injunction provisions. The court also rejected the argument that the government should receive nothing because it did not obtain a daily fine. It explained that the daily fine was sought as a coercive sanction, while the government’s separate request sought compensation for litigation expenses caused by Aden’s noncompliance.

For the attorney’s fees, the court applied the lodestar method, which generally calculates a reasonable fee by multiplying reasonable hours by a reasonable hourly rate. It found the $125 hourly rate reasonable. However, it found the lawyer’s declaration relied on grouped descriptions of multiple tasks, making it difficult to assess the time spent on individual tasks. The court concluded that 20 hours of attorney work, valued at $125 per hour, reasonably compensated the government, resulting in $2,500 in fees. It found the $911.97 in travel expenses reasonable and compensable.

Disposition

Judge Katherine Menendez ordered Abdala Aden to pay the government $3,411.97 as a compensatory contempt sanction. The amount includes $2,500 in attorney’s fees and $911.97 in expenses connected with the contempt motion. The final order states that the government’s oral motion for recovery of attorney’s fees and expenses was granted.