James v. Dist. of Columbia

302 F.Supp.3d 213

Theresa JAMES, Plaintiff,

v.DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, Defendant.

Case No. 14–cv–02147 (APM)

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

Signed March 23, 2018

Douglas Tyrka, Tyrka & Associates, LLC, McLean, VA, for Plaintiff.

Veronica A. Porter, Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, Washington, DC, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Amit P. Mehta, United States District Judge

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Theresa James, acting on behalf of her minor granddaughter, V.J., seeks an award of attorneys' fees and costs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA"), 20 U.S.C. §§ 1400 et seq. , for her counsel's successful representation of V.J. in the instant litigation and in administrative proceedings. Plaintiff contends that she is entitled to $93,676.78 in fees and costs. Defendant District of Columbia does not contest Plaintiff's status as a prevailing party under the IDEA or the number of hours spent by her counsel to represent V.J., but does assert that the proposed hourly rates for Plaintiff's counsel are not supported by adequate evidence and, therefore, are unreasonable. Defendant also challenges the reasonableness of the copying costs sought by Plaintiff in her fees petition. Defendant asks the court to award Plaintiff no more than $62,821.63 in fees and costs.

After considering the parties' submissions and the relevant law, the court grants in part and denies in part Plaintiff's Motion for Attorney Fees. The court awards attorneys' fees and costs to Plaintiff, calculated at an hourly rate of 75% of the United States Attorney's Office Matrix, in the amount of $75,286.78.

II. BACKGROUND

The court described the factual and procedural background of this case in its previous opinion, which resolved the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment and remanded for further administrative proceedings, and it need not repeat those details here. See generally James v. District of Columbia , 194 F.Supp.3d 131 (D.D.C. 2016). On remand, the Hearing Officer made several new findings and ordered relief in favor of Plaintiff's granddaughter, V.J., in a variety of forms, including a comprehensive psychological evaluation and speech-language evaluation, a revised Individualized Education Program, compensatory education services, and declaratory relief. Pl.'s Mot. for Fees & Costs, ECF No. 27 [hereinafter Pl.'s Mot.], at 3; see Def.'s Mem. in Opp'n to Pl.'s Mot. for Fees & Costs, ECF No. 29 [hereinafter Def.'s Opp'n], at 3; see also Pl.'s Mot., Ex. 1, ECF No. 27–2, at 10–11. Thus, Plaintiff succeeded in securing the relief that she sought for V.J. See generally Compl., ECF No. 1, at 3–4.

Thereafter, on May 18, 2017, Plaintiff filed a motion requesting $93,676.78 in attorneys' fees and costs. See generally Pl.'s Mot. Defendant District of Columbia opposed Plaintiff's motion on June 26, 2017, claiming that Plaintiff is not entitled to the full award that she seeks. See Def.'s Opp'n. Plaintiff's motion is now ripe for consideration.

III. LEGAL STANDARD

The IDEA provides "a fee-shifting provision entitling a prevailing party ... to reasonable attorneys' fees." Price v. District of Columbia , 792 F.3d 112, 113 (D.C. Cir. 2015) (internal quotation marks omitted). A "court, in its discretion, may award reasonable attorneys' fees as part of the costs ... to a prevailing party who is the parent of a child with a disability." 20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(3)(B)(i). An IDEA fee award "shall be based on rates prevailing in the community in which the action or proceeding arose for the kind and quality of services furnished." Id. § 1415(i)(3)(C). If the court finds, however, "that 'the amount of the attorneys' fees otherwise authorized to be awarded unreasonably exceeds the hourly rate prevailing in the community for similar services by attorneys of reasonably comparable skill, reputation, and experience,' it 'shall reduce ... the amount of the attorneys' fees awarded.' " Eley v. District of Columbia , 793 F.3d 97, 99 (D.C. Cir. 2015) (alteration in original and emphasis omitted) (quoting 20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(3)(F)(ii) ).

Because the IDEA "provides no further guidance for determining an appropriate fee award," id. at 100, the D.C. Circuit applies a "two-part framework" to determine whether an award of attorneys' fees is "reasonable" under the statute's fee-shifting provision, see Reed v. District of Columbia , 843 F.3d 517, 520 (D.C. Cir. 2016). This framework takes into account "(1) the 'number of hours reasonably expended in litigation'; and (2) the 'reasonable hourly rate' for the services provided." Reed , 843 F.3d at 520 (quoting Eley , 793 F.3d at 100 ).

The burden of establishing entitlement to a fee award under the IDEA rests with the fee applicant. See id. The applicant must establish that she qualifies as a prevailing party, document the appropriate hours spent by counsel, and justify the reasonableness of the rate requested. See id. at 520–21 ; cf. Covington v. District of Columbia , 57 F.3d 1101, 1107 (D.C. Cir. 1995) (explaining burden-shifting in the context of a fees petition under 42 U.S.C. § 1988 ). Once the applicant has shown that the claimed rate and hours are reasonable, the resulting sum is presumed to be a reasonable fee. See Covington , 57 F.3d at 1109. At that point, the defendant can challenge the request for attorneys' fees, but it must do so with "specific contrary evidence tending to show that a lower rate would be appropriate." Flood v. District of Columbia , 172 F.Supp.3d 197, 203 (D.D.C. 2016) (quoting Covington , 57 F.3d at 1109–10 ).

IV. DISCUSSION

Plaintiff in this case seeks an award of fees for the services of two attorneys: Nicholas Ostrem and Douglas Tyrka. See Pl.'s Mot., Ex. 2, ECF No. 27–3 [hereinafter Billing Itemization]; Pl.'s Mot., Ex. 3, ECF No. 27–4 [hereinafter Ostrem Decl.]; Pl.'s Mot., Ex. 4, ECF No. 27–5 [hereinafter Tyrka Decl.]. Both Ostrem and Tyrka practice in Washington, D.C. Ostrem Decl. ¶ 10; Tyrka Decl. ¶¶ 11–12. Ostrem is a solo practitioner and represented Plaintiff in the administrative proceedings underlying this case. Ostrem Decl. ¶¶ 2, 15. Tyrka is the sole owner of the law firm Tyrka & Associates, LLC, and functions primarily as a solo practitioner. Tyrka Decl. ¶¶ 2, 42. From his billing records, it appears that Tyrka represented Plaintiff only in the federal court litigation. See Billing Itemization at 36–37. Plaintiff seeks an hourly rate of $395 for Ostrem and $516 for Tyrka. See Billing Itemization. These rates align with the rates for lawyers of comparable years of experience as reflected in the United States Attorney's Office ("USAO") Attorney's Fees Matrix [hereinafter "the USAO Matrix"]. Pl.'s Mot. at 9; see Pl.'s Mot., Ex. 11, ECF No. 27–12 [hereinafter USAO Matrix]. The USAO Matrix is a matrix of hourly billing rates for attorneys and paralegals/law clerks maintained by the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. See USAO Matrix at 1 n.1. The rates in the matrix "were calculated from average hourly rates reported in 2011 survey data for the D.C. metropolitan area, which rates were adjusted for inflation with the Producer Price Index–Office of Lawyers (PPI–OL) index." Id. at 1 n.2.

Defendant challenges only the reasonableness of the attorneys' fees and costs sought by Plaintiff. See id. at 6, 18–19. Starting with the attorneys' fees, Defendant makes two basic objections. First, Defendant argues that Plaintiff has provided "insufficient evidence that the hourly rate in the USAO Matrix is the 'prevailing market rate' for attorneys practicing IDEA law in the District," and that Plaintiff's counsel's invoice inappropriately relies on current rather than historical market rates. Id. at 1, 15–17. Defendant proposes that Plaintiff's attorneys' hourly rates should not exceed 75% of the USAO Laffey or USAO Matrix rates, respectively, depending on the time period in which the services were performed.¹ See id. at 19–22. Second, Defendant asserts that the attorneys' hours were not "reasonably expended" because Plaintiff's counsel's invoice bills at an inappropriate rate for travel and for the preparation of her fees petition. Id. at 17. But that contention actually is no more than a plea that the court apply a reduced hourly rate to counsel's travel time and fees litigation work. See id. at 13, 20. Thus, Defendant's two objections largely merge into one challenge to the reasonableness of the hourly rate. So, the court considers the two objections in tandem. Finally, Defendant also asserts that Plaintiff "cannot demonstrate the reasonableness of certain expenses." See id. at 17. The only expense Defendant challenges, however, is Plaintiff's rate for copying costs. Id. ; see also id. at 18–19 (arguing that $0.25 is excessive and $0.15 is a more appropriate rate).

The court addresses each of these issues below, starting with the reasonableness of the hourly rate (and thus the overall attorneys' fee award), and then turning to the reimbursement rate for Plaintiff's copying costs.

A. Reasonable Hourly Rate for Attorneys' Fees

To be reasonable, an IDEA fee award must be "based on rates prevailing in the community in which the action or proceeding arose for the kind and quality of services furnished." 20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(3)(C) ; see id. § 1415(i)(3)(B)(i). "Whether an hourly rate is reasonable turns on three sub-elements: (1) 'the attorney['s] billing practices,' (2) 'the attorney['s] skill, experience, and reputation' and (3) 'the prevailing market rates in the relevant community.' " Eley , 793 F.3d at 100 (alterations in original) (quoting Covington , 57 F.3d at 1107 ). All that is in dispute here is the last, and perhaps most important, element: the prevailing market rates in the relevant community. See Def.'s Opp'n at 6–15.² As noted above, the parties not only disagree as to the prevailing market rate for the work performed in the underlying litigation and administrative proceedings, but they also disagree as to...