Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Location of Court -- Not Counsel's Office -- Determines Reasonableness of Billing Rates

Defendants' motion for sanctions for plaintiff's failure to comply with case deadlines and obligations was granted in part, but the amount of fees awarded as a sanction was reduced because counsel's rates were unreasonably high in light of the court's location. "[T]he court notes that several of the [defense] attorneys, especially [one] rate of $755/hour, bill at a rate above the median according to the 2009 Report of the Economic Survey submitted by [defendants], and that rates in Seattle’s category are significantly lower than rates in Washington, D.C.’s category. . . . [T]he court will thus discount the rates billed by [defendants] attorneys by 35% to approximate rates that would be reasonable in Seattle’s legal market."

Gardner v. Toyota Motor Corp. et al., 2-08-cv-00632 (WAWD September 1, 2010, Order) (Jones, J.)

No comments: