PHILIP A. BRIMMER, District Judge.
This matter is before the Court on the Supplemental Briefing in Support of the Motion for Attorney Fees [Docket No. 443] filed by plaintiff Registry Systems International, Ltd. ("RSI"). The Court has subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332.
On October 12, 2012, RSI filed a motion for attorneys' fees, requesting $208,790.00 for fees incurred in connection with the successful prosecution of its breach of fiduciary duty claim against defendant Vincent Hamm. Docket No. 425 at 6. On August 13, 2013, the Court issued an order, Docket No. 442, finding that RSI was entitled to recover attorneys' fees it incurred in connection with the prosecution of its breach of fiduciary duty and conversion claims. Docket No. 442 at 15. The Court also found that the hourly rates charged by RSI's attorneys and paralegals were reasonable. Id. at 14-15. However, because RSI's motion for attorneys' fees did not provide a sufficiently detailed description of the billing entries related to its conversion and breach of fiduciary duty claims, the Court granted RSI leave to file supplemental briefing limited to that issue. Id. at 16.
In its supplemental brief, RSI seeks an award of $193,014.06 in attorneys' fees against Mr. Hamm.
In his response, Mr. Hamm does not present specific objections about Mr. Bronesky's line-by-line review. Instead, Mr. Hamm claims that RSI's supplemental brief "merely restates, with very minor changes, Mr. Bronesky's previous estimation of how the hours" Sherman & Howard spent on the case should be divided. Docket No. 444 at 3.
The decision to award attorneys' fees and the amount of the award in a breach of trust action is within the discretion of the trial court. Heller v. First Nat'l Bank of Denver, N.A., 657 P.2d 992, 999 (Colo. App. 1982). Generally, the initial estimate of reasonable attorney fees is reached by calculation of the lodestar amount. Dubray v. Intertribal Bison Co-op, 192 P.3d 604, 608 (Colo. App. 2008). The lodestar amount is the "number of hours reasonably expended on the litigation multiplied by a reasonable hourly rate." Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 433 (1983). The lodestar amount may be adjusted based upon several factors, including the amount in controversy, the length of time required to represent the client effectively, the complexity of the case, the value of the legal services to the client, awards in similar cases, and the degree of success achieved. See Tallitsch v. Child Support Servs., Inc., 926 P.2d 143, 147 (Colo. App. 1996). A party seeking an award of attorney's fees must establish the reasonableness of each dollar and each hour for which the party seeks an award. Jane L. v. Bangerter, 61 F.3d 1505, 1510 (10th Cir. 1995). Given that the Court has already determined that the hourly rates charged by RSI's attorneys were reasonable, the only remaining issue is whether RSI seeks an award based on a reasonable number of attorney hours worked.
After review of RSI's supplemental brief, the Court finds that the number of hours RSI claims its attorneys worked to prepare for and perform legal services in this case were reasonable. See Jane, 61 F.3d at 1510. Although Mr. Hamm objects to RSI's calculation of its billing entries, the Court finds that Mr. Hamm's objections do not call into question RSI's "billing judgment" in winnowing down the hours actually spent to those reasonably expended. Praseuth v. Rubbermaid, Inc., 406 F.3d 1245, 1257 (10th Cir. 2005). Moreover, RSI's time entries are sufficiently detailed that the Court is satisfied that RSI is seeking fees for only the work performed on the breach of fiduciary duty and conversion claims. See Case v. Unified Sch. Dist. No. 233, Johnson Cnty., Kan., 157 F.3d 1243, 1250 (10th Cir. 1998). Accordingly, the Court finds that $193,014.06 is a reasonable amount of attorneys' fees incurred for the prosecution of the breach of fiduciary duty and conversion claims in this case.
For the foregoing reasons, it is