K2M Design, Inc. v. Schmidt Consulting Group, Inc.
- Gabriel Gorenstein
- 1:22-cv-03069
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In K2M Design v. Schmidt Consulting, Judge Gorenstein required more information before deciding attorneys’ fees sought with a default judgment against Peter K. Schmidt.
K2M Design, Inc. and Peter K. Schmidt; the order concerns K2M Design’s request for attorneys’ fees in connection with a proposed default judgment against Schmidt.
What happened
In K2M Design, Inc. v. Schmidt Consulting Group, Inc., K2M Design sought a default judgment against defendant Peter K. Schmidt, including an award of attorneys’ fees.
The court said the fee request could not be determined under the cited federal rule based on the materials then submitted. It required K2M Design to provide more information about the legal basis for the fees, the hours worked, and the hourly rates.
Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein ordered K2M Design to file a legal memorandum and sworn statement by August 11, 2023. The filings must also address whether the billing records were made at the time of the work and whether the requested fees relate specifically to obtaining judgment against Peter K. Schmidt.
The detailed version
- K2M Design, Inc. v. Schmidt Consulting Group, Inc. · No. 1:22-cv-03069
- Gabriel Gorenstein
- July 28, 2023
Background
K2M Design, Inc. moved for a default judgment against defendant Peter K. Schmidt. The motion included a request for attorneys’ fees.
Court’s Analysis
The court stated that the attorneys’ fee request could not be determined under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 55(b)(1), contrary to K2M Design’s assertion in its motion. The court directed K2M Design to submit a memorandum of law and a sworn statement addressing the fee request.
The memorandum must identify the governing federal or state law and explain the legal principles that apply. It must also explain why the total hours, which K2M Design still needed to calculate, and the requested hourly rates are reasonable. The filings must state whether the previously submitted fee records were created contemporaneously with the work and whether the requested fees specifically concern efforts to obtain a judgment against Peter K. Schmidt.
Order
Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein directed K2M Design to file the required materials by August 11, 2023. The order did not determine the attorneys’ fee request.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.