Summary
This United States District Court order grants the plaintiff's petition for attorney's fees and costs following a default judgment in an Americans with Disabilities Act website accessibility lawsuit. Applying the lodestar method, the court awarded $20,887.50 in fees based on a $750 hourly rate for counsel and a $175 hourly rate for paralegals, plus $587 in costs. The court dismissed the case upon entry of judgment.
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Practice areas
Questions Presented
- What method should the court use to calculate the plaintiff's reasonable attorney's fees?
- Was counsel's requested hourly rate of $750 reasonable based on the evidence and the defendant's failure to oppose the petition?
- Was the requested $300 hourly rate for paralegal work adequately supported and reasonable?
- Were the claimed hours and $587 in litigation costs recoverable and reasonable?
Holdings
- The court must calculate the fee award using the lodestar method, multiplying the number of hours reasonably expended by a reasonable hourly rate, subject to adjustment for factors not subsumed in the lodestar calculation.
- The plaintiff established that $750 per hour was a reasonable rate for counsel's work, and the defendant's failure to oppose the request supported awarding that rate.
- The plaintiff did not adequately support a $300 hourly rate for paralegal work; $175 per hour was reasonable given the nature of the work performed.
- The plaintiff was entitled to compensation for 26.8 hours of attorney time and 4.5 hours of paralegal time, plus $587 in litigation costs.
Key quotations
“To determine the amount of an award of attorney’s fees, the court uses the “lodestar” method, in which it multiplies “‘the number of hours reasonably expended on the litigation . . . by a reasonable hourly rate.”” (Section II.A)
“Once an attorney provides evidence of [her] billing rate, the burden is upon the defendant to present evidence establishing ‘a good reason why a lower rate is essential.’” (Section II.B)
“The prevailing rate for paralegal work in this circuit is closer to $100 an hour.” (Section II.B)
Factual background
McCabe alleged that onlinetires.com was not formatted to allow a legally blind customer to access its content, in violation of Title III of the ADA. The defendant did not appear, and the court entered default judgment and a permanent injunction requiring the defendant to bring the website into ADA compliance. McCabe's counsel requested fees based on 26.8 hours of attorney work at $750 per hour and 4.5 hours of paralegal work at $300 per hour, plus $587 in costs.
Procedural history
McCabe filed a Title III ADA complaint alleging that the defendant's website was inaccessible to a legally blind customer. The defendant never appeared, and the court granted McCabe's motion for default judgment, entered a permanent injunction, and authorized recovery of reasonable attorney's fees and costs. McCabe then filed a fee petition, which the court granted in part as to the requested rates and awarded $21,474.50 in fees and costs before dismissing the case.