A recent Law 360 story by Vince Sullivan, “Ariz. Firm Gets Bulk of $370K Fee Bid in Mass. FCRA Case,” reports that an attorney with Arizona consumer protection firm Price Law Group APC was awarded $204,200 in fees that he earned while representing a former debtor in a Fair Credit Reporting Act lawsuit against a mortgage servicer in Massachusetts federal court.  In an order from U.S. Magistrate Judge M. Page Kelley, the court found that the $675 per hour rate sought by attorney David Chami was too high and wasn't reasonable given the rates generally charged by lawyers with similar experience in the Boston area.  The judge said a $350 per hour rate suggested by Selene Finance LP, which is on the hook for the fees under a settlement with plaintiff Robert Sullivan, was too low.

"From its overall sense of the suit … the court finds that Sullivan's proposed rates of $550-675/hour and Selene's proposed rate of $350/hour are unreasonable," Judge Kelley said in her order.  "It finds that a rate of $500/hour is reasonable."  The court further reduced the requested fees based on the time reports kept by Chami and another attorney that worked on the beginning phase of the case in 2016, saying that many entries submitted included block billing, which isn't permitted.

In fee-shifting cases, the court said, the party seeking the payment of their fees must keep contemporaneous time records so the court can accurately determine the reasonableness of the request using a lodestar method.  That method calls for the court to come up with a reasonable hourly rate for the attorney and then multiply by the number of hours worked on the case.  Using that method, Judge Kelley determined that Chami was entitled to payment of $248,550 in fees based on 497.1 hours of work, reflecting some reductions in the hours billed by Chami.  But the block-billing practice employed by Chami and co-counsel Nicola S. Yousif led the court to reduce the fee award by 10%.

"The block billing has prevented the court from applying separate rates for the 'core' and 'noncore' work performed by attorneys Chami and Yousif," Judge Kelley said in the order.  That reduction, coupled with other time adjustments made by the court, drops Chami's fee entitlement to $204,200 based on 408 hours of work.  Yousif is entitled to $13,825 in fees for 39.5 hours of work and a paralegal employed by Chami's firm is entitled to $1,250 in fees.  The court also approved $2,310 in expenses incurred during the case.