Ramgoolie v. Ramgoolie

Background

On September 10, 2019, the court awarded Jenny Ramgoolie attorney’s fees and costs for two successful motions: a motion to compel and a motion for sanctions. The matter was referred to Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn to determine the amount. Jenny was then acting without a lawyer, and her former attorney, Howard Bender, submitted time records supporting the fee request.

Bender had represented Jenny under a mixed hourly-fee and contingency-fee arrangement. The agreement provided for a discounted hourly rate of $125 and a 15% contingency fee capped at $350,000. Bender later moved to withdraw, citing Jenny’s nonpayment of fees. The court granted that motion on October 7, 2019, and reserved decision on Bender’s requests for a charging lien and a retaining lien.

Attorney’s-Fees Award

The court applied the lodestar method, which generally calculates a reasonable fee by multiplying reasonable hours by a reasonable hourly rate. It approved Bender’s hourly rate of $375 based on an earlier finding in the litigation. It also found that the 54.65 hours Bender recorded for the two successful motions were reasonable and not unnecessarily duplicative.

The court therefore determined that the attorney’s-fees award under the September 10, 2019 order was $20,493.75. Jenny did not provide information or proof supporting a separate request for costs associated with those motions.

Charging Lien

A charging lien is a lawyer’s claim against money recovered by the client in a case. The court found that Bender was entitled to such a lien because he had performed legal services in this action and withdrew for a valid reason—nonpayment of fees.

To calculate the lien, the court considered the reasonable value of Bender’s services. Although Bender requested $166,198.50 based on 563.6 hours at $375 per hour, the court reduced the amount because his billing records used block-billing, grouped multiple tasks together, and contained vague descriptions of some communications. The court also reduced the claimed hours because Bender claimed 6.9 hours in June 2019 but supplied records for only 4.7 hours.

The court granted in part Bender’s request for a charging lien in the amount of $148,753.65. The lien attaches to proceeds Jenny obtains from this action, including attorney’s fees and expenses awarded by the court and other amounts awarded on her claims against Andy Ramgoolie. It does not attach to proceeds from the Trinidad Action because Bender had not represented Jenny there, and the court found that Bender had not shown that the Trinidad Action followed from his work in this case in the required sequence.

Retaining Lien

A retaining lien allows a discharged lawyer to keep client papers, property, or money in the lawyer’s possession as security for unpaid fees, unless the lawyer was discharged for good cause. The court found that Bender’s withdrawal based on nonpayment supported a retaining lien.

The court granted the retaining lien in the amount of $26,098.50. It would run concurrently with the charging lien: the first $26,098.50 subject to the charging lien would also be subject to the retaining lien, and no lien would attach to proceeds beyond the total charging-lien amount.

Disposition

The court determined that the attorney’s fees owed under the September 10, 2019 order were $20,493.75. It granted in part Bender’s request for a charging lien in the amount of $148,753.65 and granted his request for a retaining lien in the amount of $26,098.50, with both liens attaching to proceeds Jenny obtains from this action.