Hourly Rates of $510-$1,095 Excessive for Discovery Dispute Sanction

The magistrate judge recommended granting plaintiff's motion for sanctions, in part, but determined counsel's claimed hourly rates of $530-$1,095 were not reasonable. "Defendant argues that based on the AIPLA Report of the 2011 Economic Survey, [three attorneys] are entitled to no more than a reasonable hourly rate of $333.00, and [a fourth attorney] is entitled to no more than a reasonable hourly rate of $230. . . . [O]n the surface, it appears that Defendant’s requested rates of $333.00 and $230.00 are reasonable. Nevertheless, considering the skill, time and labor involved; the amount in question and the results achieved; the difficulty of the case; and the nature of the professional relationship with the client, the Court finds that an upward adjustment of 25% of these requested values is appropriate. Therefore, the Court recommends that [the three attorneys] be afforded a reasonable hourly rate of $416.25 and that [the fourth] be afforded a reasonable hourly rate of $287.50."

Finisar Corporation v. Cheetah Omni, LLC, 2-11-cv-15625 (MIED August 2, 2013, Order) (Majzoub, M.J.).