Judge: Daniel M. Crowley, Case: 24STCV26418, Date: 2025-04-23 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 24STCV26418    Hearing Date: April 23, 2025    Dept: 71

The Request for Entry of Default Judgment is denied for the following reason:

1.    Insufficient evidence has been presented to show that the attorneys’ fees requested are reasonable.

a.     There is a contractual basis for attorneys’ fees. (See Declarations, filed on April 11, 2025, Declaration of Trevor Bauer, ¶ 2; Exhibit F – a copy of the Settlement Agreement and Mutual Release, ¶ 9, the last sentence [“The Parties agree that the prevailing party in any lawsuit seeking to enforce the terms of this Agreement or for breach of this Agreement shall be entitled to recover his/her reasonable attorney’s fees, expenses, and costs from the other Party”].)

b.    Plaintiff seeks attorneys’ fees of $68,939.55, for work done by several individuals.

c.     However, Plaintiff has not provided information regarding those individuals (e.g., whether they are all attorneys or consist of legal staff such as paralegals).

d.    Plaintiff has also failed to provide facts justifying the billing rates of those individuals. (Cf. Declarations, filed on April 11, 2025, Declaration of Kate Mangels (“Mangels Decl.”), ¶ 6; Exhibit E, p. 3 [stating that the billing rate of Blair G. Brown was $1,250, Jon R. Fetterolf $940; Neil Zora Peyser $850; Ivano Ventresca $895; Jay Cohen $485; Sepaass Shahidi $485; and Shelley Kelly $395].)

e.     Although Plaintiff’s counsel testifies that she believes the billing rates are reasonable based on her experience (Mangels Decl., ¶ 7), that conclusory statement is insufficient for the Court to make its own finding that the billing rates are reasonable.

f.      Plaintiff’s counsel also fails to provide facts or a table showing the total number of hours each individual who worked on the case spent on the case.

The Court continues the hearing on the Order to Show Cause set for April 23, 2025 to July 7, 2025 at 8:30 a.m. in Dept. 71.