Russian School of Mathematics, Inc. v. Sinyavin
- Philip Halpern
- 7:23-cv-08103
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Russian School v. Sinyavin, Judge Halpern entered judgment requiring Sinyavin and Logicus to pay $41,348 in fees after removal lacked an objectively reasonable basis.
Russian School of Mathematics, Inc. received a $41,348 attorney’s-fee judgment against Irene Sinyavin and Logicus, LLC.
What happened
Russian School of Mathematics, Inc. v. Sinyavin involved the amount of attorney’s fees owed after the court had sent the case back to state court. The court had already ruled that the defendants lacked an objectively reasonable basis for removing the case.
The plaintiff requested fees for work on its successful request to return the case to state court. The defendants challenged the lawyers’ staffing and the time spent. The plaintiff sought additional fees for preparing its reply, but the court did not award those fees because it had not directed a reply.
Judge Philip M. Halpern found the lawyers’ hourly rates and time reasonable and entered judgment for Russian School of Mathematics, Inc. against Irene Sinyavin and Logicus, LLC, for $41,348 in attorney’s fees.
The detailed version
- Russian School of Mathematics, Inc. v. Sinyavin · No. 7:23-cv-08103
- Philip Halpern
- Jan. 25, 2024
Background
The court had previously remanded, or sent back, this action to the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Westchester. Russian School of Mathematics, Inc. then sought attorney’s fees under 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c) from Irene Sinyavin and Logicus, LLC. The court had already granted the fee motion because it found that the defendants lacked an objectively reasonable basis for removing the action. The only issue remaining was the amount of the award.
The defendants argued against the requested amount and also urged the court to reconsider its earlier decision granting fees. The court stated that reconsideration was not properly before it because the deadline had expired and no reconsideration motion had been filed.
Fee Calculation
The court used the lodestar method, which calculates a presumptively reasonable fee by multiplying a reasonable hourly rate by the reasonable number of hours worked. It approved hourly rates of $500 for counsel and $695 for a partner. Counsel Mr. LaRose recorded 59.9 hours, and partner Mr. Peikes recorded 16.4 hours, for work on the successful remand motion. After reviewing the contemporaneous billing records and its familiarity with the case, the court found the rates and hours reasonable and not excessive.
The court also found that the defendants’ shifting removal theories—including reliance first on diversity of citizenship, then on federal-question jurisdiction, and the filing of standalone counterclaims concerning copyright preemption—created additional procedural work for the plaintiff. The court rejected the defendants’ objections to the staffing and time spent.
Disposition
The court declined to award additional fees for the plaintiff’s reply memorandum because the court had not directed or contemplated that a reply be filed. Judge Philip M. Halpern entered judgment stating that Russian School of Mathematics, Inc. had judgment against Irene Sinyavin and Logicus, LLC, in the total amount of $41,348 as an award of attorney’s fees.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.