McKenzie-Morris v. V.P. Records Retail Outlet, Inc.
- Gregory Woods
- 1:22-cv-01138
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 11
In McKenzie-Morris v. V.P. Records Retail Outlet, Judge Woods ordered former counsel to pay $24,540 in Rule 11 sanctions.
Celeste McCaw and Miami Entertainment Law Group were jointly and severally liable for $24,540 in Rule 11 sanctions; the defendants were awarded that amount.
What happened
McKenzie-Morris v. V.P. Records Retail Outlet concerns copyright claims by recording artist Shauna McKenzie-Morris. In an earlier order, the court had found that a request for judicial notice filed by her former lawyer, Celeste McCaw, was frivolous and violated the rule requiring lawyers to make reasonable filings. This order decided the amount of the sanction.
The defendants requested $40,900 for lawyers’ fees related to opposing the judicial-notice request, pursuing the sanctions motion, and supporting the fee request. The court found the lawyers’ hourly rates reasonable but concluded that the work was overstaffed and took excessive time for a relatively straightforward matter. It reduced the request by 10% for top-heavy staffing and 30% for excessive hours.
Judge Woods awarded the defendants $24,540 in sanctions under Rule 11. Celeste McCaw and her law firm, Miami Entertainment Law Group, are jointly responsible for paying that amount, which was due in full by October 15, 2023.
The detailed version
- McKenzie-Morris v. V.P. Records Retail Outlet, Inc. · No. 1:22-cv-01138
- Gregory Woods
- July 10, 2023
Background
The case involves copyright-infringement claims brought by recording artist Shauna McKenzie-Morris. In an earlier order, the court granted the defendants’ motion for sanctions under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11 after finding that a motion for judicial notice filed by McKenzie-Morris’s former counsel, Celeste McCaw, was frivolous. The earlier order left the amount of the monetary sanction for later determination.
The defendants submitted time records seeking $40,900 in attorneys’ fees: $32,090 for opposing the judicial-notice motion and preparing the Rule 11 sanctions motion, $2,170 for initial fee submissions, and $6,640 for preparing the reply supporting the fee request. The defendants’ lawyers were Alan R. Friedman, a partner, and Philip Langer, an associate, both of Fox Rothschild.
Court’s analysis
The court found that both lawyers’ hourly rates were reasonable: $650 per hour for Friedman and $425 per hour for Langer. But it concluded that the staffing was excessively partner-heavy. Friedman billed 43.7 hours, while Langer billed 29.4 hours, meaning that the partner billed nearly 60% of the total hours. The court determined that an objectively reasonable client would have used a less expensive staffing model for the relatively straightforward motion practice and reduced the fees by 10% for that reason.
The court also found that the lawyers billed excessive hours. The defendants recorded 40.1 hours opposing the judicial-notice motion, 16.4 hours preparing for and litigating the Rule 11 motion, and 16.6 hours preparing for and defending the fee request, for a total of 73.1 hours. Because the work was relatively simple and the judicial-notice motion was tangential to the underlying case, the court applied an additional 30% reduction for excessive hours.
Together, the reductions totaled 40% of the $40,900 requested, or $16,360.
Disposition
The court awarded the defendants $24,540 in sanctions under Rule 11. Celeste McCaw and Miami Entertainment Law Group were held jointly and severally liable, meaning each was responsible for the full amount, subject to payment being made only once. Payment was ordered in full by October 15, 2023. The Clerk of Court was directed to mail a copy of the order to McCaw at the address previously provided for Miami Entertainment Law Group.
Read the full 11-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.