Tentative Rulings

Case Number: ****5412    Hearing Date: July 23, 2020    Dept: 58

Judge John P. Doyle

Department 58

Hearing Date: July 23, 2020

Case Name: Escobedo v. CSC Auto Salvage and Dismantling, Inc., et al.

Case No.: ****5412

Matter: Motion for Attorneys’ Fees and Costs

Moving Party: Plaintiff Edgar Escobedo

Responding Party: Defendants CSC Auto Salvage and Dismantling, Inc. and Scott Sakajian

Tentative Ruling: The Motion for Attorneys’ Fees and Costs is granted in part.

The parties have settled this matter and have agreed that Plaintiff may move for attorneys’ fees in an amount ranging from $40,000 to $100,000. Plaintiff’s lodestar figure is $149,786.20, but Plaintiff seeks $100,000.00 in fees and $6,985.98 in costs given the parameters of his settlement.

Defendants oppose the Motion on the grounds that (1) the hourly rates billed are excessive; (2) Plaintiff seeks fees for claims for which there is no statute providing for attorneys’ fees; (3) attorneys improperly billed for clerical tasks; (4) there are vague billing entries; (5) there is duplicative billing; (6) too many attorneys were involved; (7) billing for reconstructing time is inappropriate; (7) counsel may have only billed at current rates; (8) there should be a .75 negative multiplier; and (9) no costs are warranted because a memorandum of costs was not filed.

The Court notes the following inadequacies with Plaintiff’s attorneys’ fees request: (1) the request is partially premised on claims for which there is no statute allowing for fees; (2) the hourly rates of certain paralegals were excessive; and (3) an excessive number of attorneys billed for matters which do not appear necessary and reasonable for the litigation. However, the deductions considered by the Court would not place Plaintiff’s lodestar figure below $100,000. Therefore, pursuant to the parties’ settlement, the Court awards Plaintiff $100,000 in attorneys’ fees.

Defenants’ objections to Plaintiff’s costs are overruled because Plaintiff filed a memorandum of costs on May 4, 2020, but Defendants failed to file a motion to tax costs. On the other hand, the Court will award no more than $6,825.30 in costs because this is the amount requested in Plaintiff’s memorandum of costs. In sum, the Motion for Attorneys’ Fees and Costs is granted in part.