A recent NLJ story by C. Ryan Barber, “Ballard Spahr Wins $122K in Legal Fees in FOIA Suit Over PPP Loan Secrecy,” reports that Ballard Spahr will receive $122,347 in legal fees for its work in an open records lawsuit that forced the U.S. government to release detailed information about who received hundreds of millions of dollars through a COVID-19 emergency loan program.  The law firm asked for nearly $154,842 in fees and costs, but U.S. District Judge James Boasberg of the District of Columbia said Ballard Spahr failed to support its billing rates and hours worked, and subsequently shaved off nearly $32,000.

Ballard Spahr, representing The Washington Post and other media outlets against the Small Business Administration and U.S. Treasury Department, sought to use the higher rates available under the Legal Services Index Matrix.  The federal government countered that Boasberg should use the lower rates detailed in a matrix used by lawyers at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

Boasberg ultimately found Ballard Spahr failed to show how its preferred rates were in-line with rates used within the legal community for similar FOIA litigation, and granted the government’s request.  “They offer no evidence whatsoever—such as surveys or billing-rate tables—of rates charged and received by lawyers of comparable skill and experience in the D.C. market generally, let alone when handling FOIA cases,” Boasberg wrote.  “Indeed, their declarations do not even assert that their requested figures are in line with prevailing community rates for similar litigation.”

Boasberg shaved off another $6,710 due to an error in the hours billed, ultimately settling on $122,347 in legal fees and costs.  According to the USAO matrix listed in the ruling, Ballard Spahr partner Charles Tobin’s hourly rate came to $665.  Associates Maxwell Mishkin and Kristel Tupja’s rates came to $388 and $369 an hour, respectively.

Tobin said the award highlights the public importance of the case in ensuring there’s accountability of a program that handed out nearly half-a-billion dollars.  “Overall, the fee award is higher than most, and fully justified in this case,” Tobin said.  ”We are hopeful it serves as a powerful deterrent for government agencies that aren’t transparent enough on issues like this one.”

A recent Law 360 story by Hailey Konnath, “DC Judge Slams DOJ’s $212K Fee Payment to Arnold & Porter,” reports that a District of Columbia federal judge criticized a deal in which the Trump administration will pay Arnold & Porter more than $212,000 in legal fees to resolve a battle over expedited traveler security clearance programs, calling the fees excessive and the government's conduct "embarrassing."

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security in August backed down from its defense of the policy barring New Yorkers from enrolling in some of U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Trusted Traveler Programs, including Global Entry, SENTRI, NEXUS and FAST.  The government also admitted that it violated the Administrative Procedure Act's rulemaking process in instituting the policy and admitted that it made "inaccurate or misleading statements" about the policy.

As part of the agreement ending the case, DHS said it would not stop New Yorkers from participating in Global Entry or other traveler programs on the basis of the state's refusal to provide the federal government with access to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles' records, according to the settlement.  The government also agreed to cover the plaintiffs' counsel's fees.  To be clear, the parties don't need court approval to move forward with their agreement, U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon noted in the order.  However, the government and Arnold & Porter were seeking a court order incorporating the deal into a final order of dismissal.

Judge Leon declined to do so, saying that while the other provisions of the agreement are fair and reasonable, "I am quite concerned, and have been from the outset, about the reasonableness of the amount of attorney fees agreed to by the parties."  In particular, the judge knocked the U.S. Department of Justice for not requesting the actual billing records from Arnold & Porter.  Those records show that eight total attorneys billed time on the case, a number of attorneys that he deemed "entirely unnecessary to the needs of the case."  The DOJ also chose not to suggest that attorney fees be calculated according to anything other than the firm's standard corporate rates, Judge Leon said.

Had the DOJ pushed for using rates established in the U.S. Attorney's Office's Laffey Matrix — and only covered the fees for four attorneys — the fee award would be just $82,562, he said.  "The court believes the Department of Justice should have been more aggressive in protecting the public fisc," the judge said.

Judge Lean added that "[p]erhaps, however, it is not so surprising that they weren't in this case.  After all, it is not every day the Department of Justice and their clients have to confess to written and oral misrepresentations on the record in a high profile case!"  It appears that Arnold & Porter — "unfortunately at the taxpayer expense" — simply capitalized on the government's desire to put the matter to rest as quickly as possible, he said in the order.  Judge Leon said he hopes that in the future, the DOJ's leadership will take the necessary steps to ensure that attorney fees it agrees to are indeed fair and reasonable.

As far as the conclusion of the Global Entry case, Judge Leon said the parties have two options: they can file a stipulation of dismissal or they can reduce the fees portion of their deal and get it incorporated into his final order of dismissal.  "The parties have made it clear to the court that their settlement agreement does not require judicial approval and is in fact self-executing," he said. "Fine."

He added, "Negotiating an agreement in a pro bono case that bypasses judicial approval and requires defendants to pay in excess of $200,000 in attorney fees might warrant a tip of the proverbial cap from fellow practitioners, but it is irrelevant to a judicial analysis of whether to incorporate the parties' agreement into an order of dismissal."

Stanton Jones, one of the Arnold & Porter attorneys on the case, told Law360 that it was "illegal for the federal government to try to deny Global Entry to New Yorkers in retaliation for its refusal to participate in immigration enforcement."  In a statement provided to Law360, Jones added that "all fees recovered in this case will be contributed to the Arnold & Porter Foundation, a tax-exempt private foundation that provides scholarships to minority law students, funds fellowships for recent law school graduates at tax-exempt organizations, and awards grants to other charitable and educational organizations."