R&G Enterprises, Inc. v. Choi

Background

R&G Enterprises, Inc. filed its complaint on December 20, 2019. R&H Cleaners, Inc. and Soo Jeong Choi were served in January 2020, but neither defendant appeared or responded. R&G obtained certificates of default, and the court later entered an order of default judgment on November 17, 2020. The court referred the damages calculation to Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn.

Magistrate Judge’s Report

Judge Netburn issued a Report and Recommendation concerning damages on May 24, 2022. Because R&G’s counsel had not initially provided contemporaneous records—records made at the time the work was performed—for attorney hours and costs, the report initially declined to award attorney fees. It stated that R&G could receive $11,670.48 in fees and up to $1,016.48 in costs if it supplied the required records during the objection period. The report also allowed R&G to provide evidence supporting updated calculations for rent allegedly owed after September 2020.

R&G then filed an affidavit and invoices supporting attorney fees and costs. It did not file supplemental documents showing that additional rent was owed after September 30, 2020. No party filed objections to the report.

Court’s Analysis and Ruling

Because no objections were filed, the court reviewed the report for clear error, meaning an obvious mistake on the face of the record. The court found no such error and adopted the report without modification.

The court awarded $11,670.48 in attorney fees and $1,016.48 in costs. It declined to award fees for work that had not yet been performed when the report was issued, and it declined to award fees or costs for work performed after the report to prepare documents that R&G should have submitted earlier.

For unpaid rent, the court adopted the report’s calculation of $82,992 against Soo Jeong Choi for rent owed from January 2019 through September 2020. The award carries prejudgment interest at 9% per year calculated from November 15, 2019. The court concluded that the motion for default judgment was granted and directed the clerk to close the case.

Appeal-Related Statements

The court stated that the parties’ failure to file written objections prevented appellate review of the decision. It declined to issue a certificate of appealability, found that any appeal would not be taken in good faith, and denied permission to proceed without paying filing fees for purposes of an appeal.