Philpot v. Scene Entertainment, LLC ( 2019 )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA LARRY G. PHILPOT CIVIL ACTION VERSUS No. 18-9085 SCENE ENTERTAINMENT, LLC SECTION: “J”(3) ORDER AND REASONS Before the Court is Plaintiff’s Motion for Attorney’s Fees (Rec. Doc. 21). In prior orders, the Court granted default judgment in favor of Plaintiff and against Defendant Scene Entertainment, LLC on Plaintiff’s copyright infringement claim,1 awarded Plaintiff $10,500 in statutory damages, determined Plaintiff was entitled to attorney’s fees, and directed Plaintiff to submit evidence supporting his request for attorney’s fees.2 Defendant has not filed a response to the instant motion. Plaintiff requests $14,079.33 in attorney’s fees and $844.33 in costs.3 However, the evidence submitted by Plaintiff shows only $13,735.00 in attorney’s fees was incurred. This amount is based on a total of 50.1 hours of work performed by four different attorneys, charging rates from $250 to $450 per hour. While the Court finds that these rates are generally reasonable, the Court takes issue with two entries in particular. 1 (Rec. Doc. 12). 2 (Rec. Doc. 18). 3 (Rec. Doc. 21, at 1). It is customary in this circuit for attorneys to be reimbursed at only half their normal hourly rate for travel time. See DeArmond v. All. Energy Servs., LLC, No. 17- 02222, 2018 WL 2463207, at *7 (E.D. La. June 1, 2018) (collecting cases). There are two entries for attorney Saisha Chandrasekaran that charge her normal hourly rate for travel to and from New Orleans.‘ One entry is just for travel on May 23, 2019, and bills for 3.3 hours at $250 per hour, for a total of $825.00; this can easily be reduced by half to $412.50. The other entry is more complicated, as it is block billed; the description reads “Pursue Strategy re Prepare for Hearing; Travel to New Orleans,” and lists the time expended as 10.3 hours. But rather than imposing a flat reduction, which is the most common method for compensating for block billing, see id. at *6, the Court will also reduce this entry by $412.50, as her return trip presumably took the same amount of time, for a total reduction of $825.00. Thus, the Court finds $12,910.00 to be reasonable attorney’s fees in this matter. Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff's Motion for Attorney’s Fees (Rec. Doc. 21) is GRANTED, and Plaintiff is awarded $12,910.00 in attorney’s fees and $844.33 in costs. New Orleans, Louisiana, this 26th day of July, 2019. ° CARL J. B E UNITED S ES DISTRICT JUDGE 4 (Rec. Doc. 21-1, at 25).