Sunbelt Rentals, Inc. v. Dubiel ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 7 8 SUNBELT RENTALS, INC., Case No.: 3:20-cv-00876-WQH-BGS 9 Plaintiff, ORDER 10 v. 11 THOMAS DUBIEL, 12 Defendant. 13 HAYES, Judge: 14 The matter before the Court is the Motion for Attorneys’ Fees filed by Plaintiff 15 Sunbelt Rentals, Inc. against Defendant Thomas Dubiel. (ECF No. 10). 16 I. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND 17 Plaintiff Sunbelt Rentals, Inc. “is a corporation formed under the laws of North 18 Carolina” with “[i]ts principal place of business [ ] in South Carolina.” (ECF No. 1 at 1). 19 Defendant Thomas Dubiel “is an adult resident citizen of the State of California.” Id. 20 Plaintiff “rents equipment to its customers for use primarily in construction 21 projects.” Id. at 2; see Beckner Decl. ¶ 4, ECF No. 7-3 at 1. “Beginning in October 2019, 22 [Plaintiff] rented certain equipment . . . to [Defendant] for use on a construction project.” 23 (ECF No. 1 at 2; see Beckner Decl. ¶ 6, ECF No. 7-3 at 2). Defendant has “failed to . . . 24 fully pay the rental fees for the [e]quipment.” (ECF No. 1 at 2; see Beckner Decl. ¶ 7, ECF 25 No. 7-3 at 2). “[A]s of April 24, 2020, the total unpaid principal amount . . . is $82,495.32 26 . . . .” (ECF No. 1 at 2; see Beckner Decl. ¶ 9, ECF No. 7-3 at 2). “The [r]ental [c]ontract 27 provides that [Plaintiff] can recover from [Defendant] the reasonable attorneys’ fees and 28 costs it incurs to collect amounts [Defendant] owes [Plaintiff].” (ECF No. 1 at 2). “The 1 [r]ental [c]ontract also provides that [Defendant] must pay a 1.5% per month service charge 2 on all delinquent amounts owed to [Plaintiff] until those amounts are paid.” Id. The 3 “accrued interest/service charges of 1.5% through July 8, 2020 total[ ] $7,894.41.” 4 (Beckner Decl. ¶ 10, ECF No. 7-3 at 2). 5 On May 11, 2020, Plaintiff initiated this action by filing a Complaint against 6 Defendant for breach of contract. (ECF No. 1). On July 7, 2020, Plaintiff filed a Request 7 for an Entry of Default. (ECF No. 5). On the same day, the Clerk of the Court granted 8 Plaintiff’s Request for an Entry of Default. (ECF No. 6). On July 17, 2020, Plaintiff filed 9 a Motion for Default Judgment against Defendant. (ECF No. 7). On September 3, 2020, 10 the Court granted Plaintiff’s a Motion for Default Judgment against Defendant. (ECF No. 11 8). The Court stated, in relevant part, “Defendant Thomas Dubiel is liable for . . . Plaintiff’s 12 reasonable and necessary attorneys’ fees and costs, the amount of which the Court will 13 determine in response to a Plaintiff post-judgment motion under Federal Rule of Civil 14 Procedure 54(d).” Id. at 7. The Court further stated that “Plaintiff Sunbelt Rentals, Inc. 15 shall submit evidence supporting its request for attorneys’ fees and costs within 10 days of 16 the date of this Order.” Id. at 8. On the same day, the Clerk of the Court entered Default 17 Judgment in favor of Plaintiff and against Defendant. (ECF No. 9). On September 14, 18 2020, Plaintiff filed a Motion for Attorneys’ Fees (ECF No. 10) and a Bill of Costs (ECF 19 No. 11). The record reflects that no Response in opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion for 20 Attorneys’ Fees (ECF No. 10) or Bill of Costs (ECF No. 11) has been filed. 21 II. DISCUSSION 22 Plaintiff requests “attorneys’ fees in the amount of $10,812.00 . . . .” (ECF No. 10 23 at 2). Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(d)(2)(B) states that 24 (B) Timing and Contents of the Motion. Unless a statute or a court order provides otherwise, the motion [for attorneys’ fees] must: 25 (i) be filed no later than 14 days after the entry of judgment; 26 (ii) specify the judgment and the statute, rule, or other grounds entitling the movant to the award; 27 (iii) state the amount sought or provide a fair estimate of it; and 28 1 (iv) disclose, if the court so orders, the terms of any agreement about fees for the services for which the claim is made. 2 3 Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(d)(2)(B). 4 Plaintiff’s attorney states in a sworn declaration that her “hourly rate in representing 5 [Plaintiff] in this matter is $335.00.” Blake Decl. ¶ 4, ECF No. 10-3 at 2. Plaintiff’s 6 attorney states that she “supervised attorneys Brian Kimball, Kate Van Namen, and 7 Caroline Smith and paralegal Cindy Grantham.” Id. ¶ 5, ECF No. 10-3 at 2. Plaintiff’s 8 attorney states that “Brian C. Kimball is a partner” whose “hourly rate in representing 9 [Plaintiff] in this matter is $405.00 per hour, which is commensurate with his hourly rate 10 for representing clients across the United States.” Id. ¶ 6, ECF No. 10-3 at 2. Plaintiff’s 11 attorney states that “Kate Van Namen is an associate” whose “hourly rate in representing 12 [Plaintiff] in this matter is $330.00 per hour, which is commensurate with his hourly rate 13 for representing clients across the United States.” Id. ¶ 7, ECF No. 10-3 at 2. Plaintiff’s 14 attorney states that “Caroline B. Smith is a litigation associate” whose “hourly rate in 15 representing [Plaintiff] in this matter is $275.00 per hour, which is commensurate with her 16 hourly rate for representing clients across the United States.” Id. ¶ 8, ECF No. 10-3 at 2- 17 3. Plaintiff’s attorney states that “Cindy Grantham is a litigation paralegal” whose “hourly 18 rate for her work on this matter is $215.00 per hour, which is commensurate with her hourly 19 rate for the work she performs on behalf of clients across the United States.” Id. ¶ 9, ECF 20 No. 10-3 at 3. 21 Plaintiff’s attorney states that her law firm “billed [Plaintiff] based on the actual time 22 spent on this case by . . . attorneys and paraprofessionals at the hourly rate then in effect, 23 and it applied a discount to each invoice issued to [Plaintiff].” Id. ¶ 10, ECF No. 10-3 at 24 3. Plaintiff’s attorney states that her law firm “billed a total of $10,812.00 in hourly rates 25 for services it rendered from April 1, 2020, to through July 17, 2020, after applying 26 discounts totaling $2,580.00.” Id. ¶ 11, ECF No. 10-3 at 3. The May 21, 2020 invoice lists 27 Brian C. Kimball as having worked 4.50 hours at a rate of $405.00 per hour and Caroline 28 B. Smith as having worked 3.40 hours at a rate of $275.00 per hour. See Ex. A to Blake 1 Decl., ECF No. 10-4 at 2. The June 29, 2020 invoice lists Brian C. Kimball as having 2 worked 4.90 hours at a rate of $405.00 per hour, Caroline B. Smith as having worked 2.30 3 hours at a rate of $275.00 per hour, Kate Van Namen as having worked 0.20 hours at a rate 4 of $330.00 per hour, and Cindy Grantham as having worked 7.00 hours at a rate of $215.00 5 per hour. See id. at 5. The July 14, 2020 invoice lists Brian C. Kimball as having worked 6 1.00 hours at a rate of $405.00 per hour, Caroline B. Smith as having worked 6.30 hours at 7 a rate of $275.00 per hour, and Cindy Grantham as having worked 0.50 hours at a rate of 8 $215.00 per hour. See id. at 7. The August 31, 2020 invoice lists Brian C. Kimball as 9 having worked 3.30 hours at a rate of $405.00 per hour, Caroline B. Smith as having 10 worked 7.80 hours at a rate of $235.00 per hour, and Cindy Grantham as having worked 11 4.80 hours at a rate of $215.00 per hour. See id. at 11. 12 The Court finds that the hourly rates are reasonable and that the hours expended in 13 this matter are reasonable. The Court finds that Plaintiff’s requested attorneys’ fees amount 14 requires no adjustments. See e.g., Xerox Corp. v. Argo Nat. Health Labs, Inc., No. 15 14CV1621-WQH-WVG, 2015 WL 13105721, at *1 (S.D. Cal. Jan. 2, 2015) (same); see 16 also Miller v. Los Angeles Cty. Bd. of Educ., 827 F.2d 617, 621 (9th Cir. 1987) (explaining 17 that an award of attorneys’ fees requires “a lodestar figure: the number of hours reasonably 18 expended on the litigation multiplied by a reasonable hourly rate” adjusted by the factors 19 laid out in Kerr v. Screen Extras Guild, Inc., 526 F.2d 67 (9th Cir. 1975)). Plaintiff’s 20 request for attorneys’ fees is granted in the amount of $10,812.00. 21 III. CONCLUSION 22 IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Motion for Attorneys’ Fees filed by Plaintiff 23 Sunbelt Rentals, Inc. against Defendant Thomas Dubiel (ECF No. 10) is GRANTED. 24 Plaintiff Sunbelt Rentals, Inc. is entitled to an award of attorneys’ fees in the amount of 25 $10,812.00. The Clerk of the Court shall issue an Amended Judgment to include attorneys’ 26 fees in the amount of $10,812.00. 27 28 1 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Bill of Costs filed by Plaintiff Sunbelt Rentals, 2 ||Inc. against Defendant Thomas Dubiel (ECF No. 11) is referred to the Clerk of the Court. 3 || Dated: October 26, 2020 BME: ie Z. A a 4 Hon. William Q. Hayes 5 United States District Court 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28