Rodriguez v. Cnty. of L.A.

Caitlin S. Weisberg, David S. McLane, Kevin J. Lahue, Ronald O. Kaye, Kaye McLane Bednarski and Litt LLP, Pasadena, CA, James S. Muller, Law Offices of James S. Muller, Glendale, CA, for Plaintiffs.

David D. Lawrence, Daniel S. Cha, Dennis Michael Gonzales, George E. Morris, Jr., Jin S. Choi, Paul B. Beach, Lawrence Beach Allen and Choi PC, Glendale, CA,

Gilbert M. Nishimura, J. Edwin Rathbun, Jr., Seki Nishimura and Watase LLP, Los Angeles, CA, for Defendants.

ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR ATTORNEY'S FEES

CONSUELO B. MARSHALL, District Judge.

Before the Court is Plaintiffs' Corrected Motion for Attorneys' Fees (the “Motion”). (Dkt. No. 668.) This matter is fully briefed and was taken under submission without oral argument.

I. JURISDICTION

This Court has jurisdiction over this matter under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1343(3), and 1367.

II. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL OVERVIEW

Heriberto Rodriguez, Eric Nunez, Juan Carlos Sanchez, Juan Trinidad, and Carlos Flores (collectively “Plaintiffs”) were prisoners at the Men's Central Jail (“MCJ”) in Los Angeles, California when they were involved in a violent conflict with prison guards and officials in the jail. During this conflict, MCJ guards attempted to extract Plaintiffs from their jail cells using excessive force, including using Tazers for extended periods targeting Plaintiffs' sensitive body parts. The result of this conflict left the Plaintiffs seriously injured. On August 25, 2010, Plaintiffs brought a civil rights action against numerous Defendants, including the County of Los Angeles (“COLA”), the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department (“LASD”), and individual guards and supervisors. In their complaint, Plaintiffs alleged that these Defendants violated Plaintiffs' Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (“Civil Rights Act” or “§ 1983 ”) and Cal. Civ.Code § 52.1 (“Bane Act” or “§ 52.1 ”).

On November 7, 2013, after four years of litigation and a month-long trial, a jury returned a verdict in favor of each Plaintiff on all causes of action.¹ The jury found that the Plaintiffs were subjected to force that was intentional and excessive and determined that Defendants' actions gave rise to liability under both § 1983 and § 52.1.² On February 6, 2014, this Court entered judgment in Plaintiffs' favor consistent with the jury verdict, awarding Plaintiffs $754,000 in compensatory and $210,000 in punitive damages (for a total damage award of $950,000). Plaintiffs now request reasonable attorneys' fees pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988 and Cal. Civ.Code § 52.1(h) for their success in litigating this hotly contested prisoners' civil rights case.

III. PROCEDURAL HISTORY OF THE MOTION

While Defendants' post-trial motions were pending, Plaintiffs filed a Motion for Attorney Fees and Costs, supported by numerous declarations and exhibits.³ (See Dkt. Nos. 644, 645, 646, 647, 648, 649, 650.) Almost two weeks later, Plaintiffs filed a Corrected Motion for Attorney's Fees and Costs (the “Motion”) supported by an additional declaration and exhibits. (See Dkt. Nos. 668, 669.) Defendants filed a timely

Opposition to the Motion, supported by two declarations and several exhibits. (See Dkt. Nos. 678, 679, 680.) Plaintiffs applied ex parte to include additional pages in their reply brief, and, without permission of the Court, filed a reply exceeding this Court's page limits by 25 pages; Plaintiffs also filed several additional declarations. (See Dkt. Nos. 684, 687, 688, 689, 690.) The Court granted Plaintiffs' ex parte request for additional pages, but limited Plaintiffs to five additional pages for their reply. (Dkt. No. 700.) Plaintiffs then filed a reply within this Court's page limits. (Dkt. No. 702.)

Without permission of the Court, Defendants filed another opposition to Plaintiffs' Motion, opposing the additional fees requested in Plaintiffs' reply brief. (Dkt. No. 697.) Defendants then filed “Supplemental Authority in Support of Defendants' Opposition to Plaintiffs' Motion for Attorney's Fees and Costs,” which included further argument opposing the Motion. (Dkt. No. 705.) Plaintiffs filed a response to Defendants' “Supplemental Authority” and offered additional arguments supporting Plaintiffs' Motion. (Dkt. No. 706.) A few weeks later, Plaintiffs filed three more documents all containing additional arguments: a “Supplement,” an Application for Leave to File Supplemental Briefing, and a declaration with exhibits introducing new (but previously available) evidence. (Dkt. Nos. 708, 709, 710.) Plaintiffs then filed a document labeled a “Notice of Errata” that proffered additional arguments and requested a larger fee. (Dkt. No. 712.)

The parties' excessive filing of documents related to Plaintiffs' Motion caused delay in the issuance of this order. The Court finds that both parties violated the local rules by filing documents after briefing was completed without permission of the Court and by filing appendices containing excessive, and improper, legal arguments. See L.R. 7–3 (“A party filing any document in support of, or in opposition to, any motion noticed for hearing as above provided after the time for filing the same shall have expired ... shall be subject to the sanctions of L.R. 83–7 ...”); see also L.R. 7–7 (“Declarations shall contain only factual, evidentiary matter and shall conform as far as possible to the requirements of Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)(4) ”; see also L.R. 11–6 (“appendices shall not include any matters which properly belong in the body of the memorandum of points and authorities.”). For purposes of ruling on this Motion, the Court considers only the legal arguments made in Plaintiffs' Motion, Defendants' Opposition, and Plaintiffs' fifteen-page Reply. (Dkt. Nos. 668, 678, 702.) The Court also considers the timely evidence offered in support thereof. (Dkt. Nos. 645, 646, 647, 648, 649, 650, 669, 679, 680, 688, 689, 690, 692.)

IV. LEGAL STANDARD

A. Lodestar Analysis

A plaintiff that prevails in civil rights litigation under federal law (§ 1983 ) or state law (§ 52.1 ) may be entitled to an award of attorney's fees. See Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 433, 103 S.Ct. 1933, 76 L.Ed.2d 40 (1983) ; see also Chavez v. City of Los Angeles, 47 Cal.4th 970, 989, 104 Cal.Rptr.3d 710, 224 P.3d 41 (2010). For a plaintiff that prevails on a § 1983 claim, fees may be awarded fees pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988 (“§ 1988 ”). Once a plaintiff establishes that it is the “prevailing party,” a reasonable fee award is typically based upon the lodestar method: “the number of hours reasonably expended on the litigation multiplied by a reasonable hourly rate.” Hensley, 461 U.S. at 433, 103 S.Ct. 1933. Reasonable hours are those hours that “would have been undertaken by a reasonable and prudent lawyer to advance or protect his client's interest in the pursuit of a successful

recovery.” Armstrong v. Davis, 318 F.3d 965, 971 (9th Cir.2003) (citing Hasbrouck v. Texaco, Inc., 879 F.2d 632, 638 (9th Cir.1989) ). A “reasonable rate” may be demonstrated by the moving party submitting “satisfactory evidence in addition to the attorney's own affidavit that the requested rates are in line with those prevailing in the community for similar services by lawyers of reasonably comparable skill, experience and reputation.” Blum v. Stenson, 465 U.S. 886, 895 n. 11, 104 S.Ct. 1541, 79 L.Ed.2d 891 (1984). “Where a plaintiff has obtained excellent results, his attorney should recover a fully compensatory fee. Normally this will encompass all hours reasonably expended on the litigation, and indeed in some cases of exceptional success an enhanced award may be justified.” Hensley, 461 U.S. at 435, 103 S.Ct. 1933 ; see also Ketchum v. Moses, 24 Cal.4th 1122, 1132, 104 Cal.Rptr.2d 377, 17 P.3d 735 (2001). Lodestar analysis is generally the same under California law and Federal law.

B. PLRA—Fees Awarded under Federal Law Claims

Congress has adopted special standards and limitations on attorney's fees for prevailing plaintiffs seeking monetary damages authorized by 42 U.S.C. § 1988 when the prevailing plaintiff is a prisoner, as in this case. See Prison Litigation Reform Act (“PLRA”), 42 U.S.C. § 1997e. Under the PLRA, attorney's fees can be awarded only if “directly and reasonably incurred in proving an actual violation of the plaintiff's rights protected by a statute pursuant to which a fee may be awarded under section 1988.” 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(d)(1)(A). The fee must be “proportionally related to the court ordered relief for the violation” or “directly and reasonably incurred in enforcing the relief ordered.” 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(d)(1)(B). Up to 25 percent of any monetary award a prison plaintiff receives pursuant to § 1988 must be applied as a...