A recent Law 360 story by Greg Lamm, “Wash. AG Disputes $5.7M Legal Costs To Thrift Chain”, reports that the Washington Attorney General's Office said a thrift store chain has inflated the legal costs that the state must pay after the state Supreme Court cleared the chain of deceptive advertising charges brought by the state, urging a trial judge to slash nearly $2 million from the chain's $5.7 million claim for attorneys' fees and costs.  The state attorney general's office said Value Village owner TVI Inc. seeks to recover nearly $1 million for more than 1,500 attorney hours for work relating to appellate proceedings, which the company failed to request on appeal, according to a brief filed in Washington state court.

In addition to chopping off the $1 million, the state attorney general's office urged the trial judge to reduce the remaining balance of TVI's fee request by 15%, arguing that TVI used block-billing, which the state called "a disfavored billing practice," according to the brief.  "While the documentation of work performed need not be in minute detail to support a fee petition, practices such block-billing make it virtually impossible to determine how much time was spent on particular activities." the brief said.

In its brief responding to the Bellevue, Washington-based company's fee request, the state attorney general's office also accused TVI of redacting billing entries, which the state said made it impossible to evaluate whether a large portion of billing time was reasonable.  TVI also improperly included thousands of dollars in fees for a federal lawsuit filed against the state in 2017 that was eventually tossed, the brief said.

The state Attorney General's Office sued TVI in 2017 in Washington state court, alleging the Value Village owner ran an aggressive marketing campaign that allegedly deceived consumers and donors into believing that the for-profit company was a charity.  In February, the state Supreme Court sided with TVI, in a unanimous ruling that said the thrift chain's marketing campaign touting its support for its charity partners was protected by the First Amendment.  The state high court sent the case back to the trial court to dismiss the state Consumer Protection Act claims and to rule on attorneys' fees and costs.

On Aug. 9, King County Superior Court Judge David Whedbee ruled that TVI was entitled to recover attorneys' fees and costs in the litigation.  Judge Whedbee said he would determine the exact amount during the second phase of the case.