Wright v. Frontier Management LLC ( 2023 )

Carolyn H. Cottrell (SBN 166977) 1 || Ori Edelstein (SBN 268145) Michelle S. Lim (SBN 315691) 2 || SCHNEIDER WALLACE COTTRELL KONECKY LLP 3 || 2000 Powell Street, Suite 1400 Emeryville, California 94608 4 || Telephone: (415) 421-7100 Facsimile: (415) 421-7105 5 || ccottrell@schneiderwallace.com oedelstein@schneiderwallace.com 6 || mlim@schneiderwallace.com 7 || Attorneys for Plaintiffs, and the Putative g Classes and Collective UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA JOSHUA WRIGHT, LORETTA STANLEY, Case No.: 2:19-cv-01767-JAM-CKD 12 || HALEY QUAM, and AIESHA LEWIS, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFFS’ 13 || Situated, MOTION FOR ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND COSTS AND FOR SERVICE AWARDS 14 Plaintiffs, Judge: Hon. John A. Mendez 15 VS. Date: February 28, 2023 FRONTIER MANAGEMENT LLC Time: 0pm. ? . th 16 || FRONTIER SENIOR LIVING, LLC, and GH = | 6, 14" Floor SENIOR LIVING, LLC dba GREENHAVEN 17 ; Filed: September 6, 2019 ESTATES ASSISTED LIVING, Trial Date: None 18 Defendants. 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND COSTS AND FOR SERVICE ] The Motion for Attorneys’ Fees an Costs and For Service Awards filed by Plaintiffs Joshua 2 || Wright, Loretta Stanley, Haley Quam, and Aiesha Lewis, Plaintiffs in this action (the “Action’’), 3 || came on for hearing regularly in Courtroom 6, 14" Floor, of the above captioned court, the 4 || Honorable John A. Mendez presiding. 5 Having reviewed the papers and documents presented, having heard the statements of 6 || counsel, and having considered the matter, the Court HEREBY ORDERS as follows: 7 1. Notice to the Class, including information regarding the requested award of 8 || attorneys’ fees and costs, was directed to Class Members in a reasonable manner, and complied 9 || with Rule 23(h)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. 10 2. Class Members have been given the opportunity to object in compliance with Fed. 11 |] R. Civ. P. 23(h)(2). 12 3. No Class Member has objected to the requested fees and expenses and service 13 || awards. 14 4. The settlement agreement provides that Class Counsel may seek up to 35% of the 15 || Gross Settlement Amount of $9,500,000, or $3,325,000, plus costs not to exceed $110,000. 16 || However, Class Counsel only seeks one-third of the Gross Settlement Amount, or $3,166,663.50 17 || in reasonable attorneys’ fees and their reasonably incurred actual litigation expenses of $94,296.46. 18 || Defendants do not object to these amounts. 19 5. Class Counsel have substantiated their fee request with a declaration describing their 20 || billing practices, billing rates, hours worked, work tasks performed and corresponding lodestar for 21 || the time invested into this case. The declaration demonstrates a total lodestar of approximately 22 || $2,167,230 based on over 3,351 hours of work, as of January 20, 2023. Counsel note that this does 23 |} not include any work performed by attorneys and staff who billed less than a total of 10 hours, and 24 || any additional work performed to oversee the implementation of the Settlement and to otherwise 25 || bring the Settlement to a close. 26 6. Based on a fee request of $3,166,663.50, the declaration of Class Counsel 27 || documenting their lodestar shows that a fee award of this amount would result in a multiplier of 28 [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING PT ATINTIFES? MOTION FOR ATTORNEV®’ FEBS AND CORTES AND FOR 1 || approximately 1.46 or less. Class Counsel also seek reimbursement of actual out-of-pocket costs 2 || of $94,296.46, which are documented in the declaration of Class Counsel as well. 3 7. The Court finds that Class Counsel’s hourly rates are within the prevailing range of 4 || hourly rates charged by attorneys providing similar services in class action, wage-and-hour cases 5 || in California, as shown by the Declaration of Carolyn H. Cottrell. 6 8. The declaration submitted in support of the motion demonstrate that the attorneys 7 || representing the class have the experience and qualifications necessary to represent the Class. 8 9. The Court finds that the total hours worked by class counsel are reasonable, given 9 || the nature of the case and the defenses presented, the work class counsel had to undertake, the 10 |} manner in which class counsel allocated their work, and the results achieved. 11 10. Class Counsel also are entitled to a multiplier of their total lodestar. The Court finds 12 || that the multiplier sought of 1.46 (as of January 20, 2023) falls well within the customary range for 13 || common fund cases where class counsel has taken the case on a contingency fee arrangement. The 14 || Court further finds the multiplier sought is reasonable and appropriate, given the documented 15 || lodestar, contingent risk, complexity, factual and legal risks, protracted nature of the case, the 16 || preclusion of counsel from other employment, and the favorable results achieved for class 17 || members. 18 11. | common cross-check regarding the reasonableness of a fee award is its percentage 19 || of the total value of the benefits conferred on the class. Boeing Co. v. Van Gemert, 444 U.S. 472, 20 || 478-81 (1980). Plaintiffs’ fee request of $3,166,663.50 represents one-third (1/3) of the Gross 21 || Settlement Amount, which is reasonable under both applicable law, and in light of the contingent 22 || risk, factual and legal risks, Class Counsel’s documented lodestar, the complex and protracted 23 || nature of the case, and strong result for the Class. See id. 24 12. Class Counsel are entitled to recover the out-of-pocket costs and litigation expenses 25 || they reasonably incurred in investigating, prosecuting, and settling this case. Harris v. Marhoefer, 26 || 24 F.3d 16, 19 (9th Cir. 1994). The Court finds that Class Counsel’s out-of-pocket costs and 27 || expenses of $94,296.46 are documented, and reasonable and necessary to the prosecution of this 28 ORDER GRANTING PT ATINTIEBES’? MOTION FOR ATTORNEY FEES AND COSTS AND FOR SERVICE 1 || action, in light of the protracted nature of the case, the vigorousness of Defendants’ legal defense, 2 || the motion practice, amount of documentary evidence, witnesses and depositions, and the four 3 || mediations necessary to achieve the settlement. 4 13. The Court FINALLY APPROVES Class Counsel’s request for attorneys’ fees in the 5 || amount of one-third of $9,500,000, for a total of $3,166,663.50. 6 14. The Court FINALLY APPROVES Class Counsel’s request for costs in the amount 7 || of $94,296.46. 8 15. The Court further finds that the requested service awards are fair and reasonable for 9 || the service they provided to the Classes and Collective and the broader release they executed than 10 || the Class and Collective Members. 11 16. The Court FINALLY APPROVES the service awards to the Named Plaintiff and 12 || Class and PAGA Representative in the amount of $10,000 to Plaintiff Joshua Wright. 13 17. The Court FINALLY APPROVES the service awards to the Named Plaintiffs and 14 || Class and Collective Representatives in the amount of $5,000 each to Plaintiffs Loretta Stanley, 15 || Aiesha Lewis, and Haley Quam. 16 18. The Court FINALLY APPROVES a service award to Emily Gracey in the amount 17 || of $5,000. 18 19 IT IS SO ORDERED. 20 Dated: March 9, 2023 J/s/JohnA.Mendez THE HONORABLE JOHN A. MENDEZ 22 SENIOR UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 23 24 25 26 27 28 ORDER GRANTING PT ATINTIEBES’? MOTION FOR ATTORNEY FEES AND COSTS AND FOR SERVICE