Lin v. La Vie en Szechuan Restaurant Corp.

Background

The case is a wage-and-hour action under the New York Labor Law. The court conducted a bench trial in January 2020 and found Yunjian Lin and Yu Huang entitled to judgment against La Vie En Szechuan Restaurant Corp., Savour Sichuan Inc., and Yi Zhang. The court had directed the parties to try to agree on attorneys’ fees and costs. They did not reach an agreement, so the plaintiffs submitted a fee application.

The plaintiffs requested $91,163.64: $87,385.33 in attorneys’ fees for work by Troy Law, PLLC, and $3,778.31 in litigation costs. The time records showed 248.94 hours. The defendants did not dispute the plaintiffs’ entitlement to fees and costs under the New York Labor Law, but argued that the requested hourly rates were above market and that some costs were inflated. The opinion also notes that the plaintiffs separately sought a default judgment against Zhong Qing Wang, who did not appear at trial. The court had not yet decided that request and excluded work and costs devoted solely to pursuing it from this fee award.

Legal Standards

The court applied the rule that a prevailing plaintiff may recover reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs under the New York Labor Law. It used the lodestar method, which calculates fees by multiplying a reasonable hourly rate by a reasonable number of hours. The fee applicant bears the burden of showing that the requested rates and hours are reasonable. Recoverable costs may include reasonable litigation expenses such as filing, service, transcript, printing, and interpreter fees.

Hourly Rates

The court found the hours billed generally reasonable but reduced the requested rates:

- John Troy: $325 per hour rather than $550. The court considered his experience but also his responsibility for the firm’s management and the case’s inadequate preparation and organization. - George Kibum Byun: $160 per hour rather than $350. - Aaron Schweitzer: $125 per hour rather than $350. The court considered his relatively junior status and his substantial role in the trial-related work, including problems involving an inaccurate affidavit and its description to the court. - William Lou: $80 per hour rather than $200. - Preethi Kilaru: $70 per hour rather than $200, because the plaintiffs did not identify her position at the firm or adequately justify the requested rate. - Maggie Huang: $100 per hour rather than $150. - Bella Ho: no fee was awarded because the plaintiffs provided no information about her position or experience. - Tiffany Troy: $50 per hour rather than $150, based on the court’s assessment of her limited translation experience and trial testimony about errors in written translations.

Fee and Cost Calculation

Using the modified rates and the approved hours, the court calculated a lodestar of $38,041.70 in attorneys’ fees. The court declined to depart from that amount. It also approved $3,640.11 in litigation costs, after excluding costs related exclusively to the request for a default judgment against Wang. The court rejected the defendants’ objections to the process-server, postage, and printing costs that remained in the application.

Disposition

The court ordered that the plaintiffs be awarded $41,681.81 in attorneys’ fees and costs under New York Labor Law sections 198(1-a) and 663(1). The award was entered in connection with the judgment against La Vie En Szechuan, Savour Sichuan, and Yi Zhang, jointly and severally. The court directed the Clerk to close the fee motion and directed the plaintiffs to submit a proposed final judgment stating the damages, interest, and attorneys’ fees and costs to be awarded.