JANE MAGNUS-STINSON, Chief District Judge.
Plaintiff Debora Walton
FMB submitted a Report and Affidavit of John F. McCauley, Counsel of Record for [FMB], in Support of Fee Request on Defense of Regulation E Claim (the "
In response to FMB's Report, Ms. Walton filed a document titled "The Plaintiff Deborah Walton Objects to Defendant First Merchants Bank[']s Attorney Fees and Responds to the Defendant[']s Report and Attorney Fee Invoices" (the "
In its reply, FMB argues that Ms. Walton did not address a single time entry, the reasonableness of the hourly rates charged, or the reasonableness of the 80% discount for Regulation E-related work. [Filing No. 304 at 1-2.] FMB states that Ms. Walton "attempts to reweigh the evidence produced at trial ..., takes issue with nearly every finding and conclusion by this Court, and attempts to blame FMB for her current predicament." [Filing No. 304 at 2.] It goes on to address why the award of attorneys' fees was appropriate. [Filing No. 304 at 2-4.] Finally, FMB argues that the amount of attorneys' fees requested is not disproportionate to the potential value of the Regulation E claim, noting that Ms. Walton sought actual damages, statutory damages, punitive damages, and attorneys' fees in connection with that claim and demanded $250,000, or $50,000 "for each checking and loan account closed, and miscellaneous damages or costs." [Filing No. 304 at 4; see also Filing No. 303-1.]
The Court notes at the outset that it already found in its Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law that "the award of attorneys' fees incurred by FMB in connection with Ms. Walton's Regulation E claim from November 28, 2018 — the date of the Court's summary judgment ruling — forward is warranted." [Filing No. 286 at 20-21.] FMB's Report, Ms. Walton's Response, and FMB's reply were to only address whether the amount of attorneys' fees requested by FMB is "reasonable in relation to the work expended and costs." Indeed, the Court — anticipating, based on the history of this litigation, that Ms. Walton might address issues outside of these parameters — stated in its Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law that "Ms. Walton must file any response to FMB's Report, which addresses only whether the attorneys' fees set forth by FMB are `reasonable in relation to the work expended,' by January 8, 2020." [Filing No. 286 at 21 (emphasis added).] The majority of Ms. Walton's response is devoted to arguing why she believes the award of attorneys' fees is unwarranted in the first instance, which is beyond the scope of the issues that remain before the Court and which the Court already addressed in its Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law. [See Filing No. 286 at 21 (Court discussing Ms. Walton's arguments that she had difficulty obtaining documents from FMB during discovery, that FMB did not send her a letter as required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 11 before seeking attorneys' fees,
The only arguments Ms. Walton sets forth in her Response that relate to the amount of attorneys' fees FMB requests are that it was excessive for three attorneys to work on the Regulation E claim, and that the amount of attorneys' fees is disproportionate to the amount she could have recovered on the Regulation E claim. These are the only two arguments the Court will address, as they are the only arguments relevant to whether the attorneys' fees that FMB requests are "reasonable in relation to the work expended."
15 U.S.C. § 1693m(f) provides that "[o]n a finding by the court that an unsuccessful action under this section was brought in bad faith or for purposes of harassment, the court shall award to the defendant attorney's fees reasonable in relation to the work expended and costs." The Court finds that the attorneys' fees requested by FMB meet the standard set forth in § 1693m(f). First, Ms. Walton argues that her Regulation E claim "does not justify three...attorneys for preparation," [Filing No. 302 at 4], yet she does not explain why that is the case. Indeed, the records submitted by FMB indicate that five attorneys worked on the Regulation E claim. [See Filing No. 301-2.] The Court finds nothing inherently unreasonable with the use of multiple attorneys in this case, and notes that the attorney with the highest hourly rate — David Tittle — spent considerably less time working on the Regulation E claim than the combined time of the other attorneys. [See Filing No. 301-2.] Had he been the only attorney working on the case, the total attorneys' fees would have been much higher. The use of three (or five) attorneys does not, in and of itself, warrant a reduction in the amount of attorneys' fees requested, and there is no evidence that any of the work was duplicative.
Second, Ms. Walton argues that she was limited to an award of $1,000 for each Regulation E violation, and the amount of attorneys' fees requested "grossly exceeds the potential claim." [Filing No. 302 at 4.] But Ms. Walton ignores the fact that, along with those statutory damages, she sought actual damages, and attorneys' fees and costs in connection with her Regulation E claim. [Filing No. 15 at 4; Filing No. 15 at 7; Filing No. 303-1 at 2 (Ms. Walton stating in a "Settlement Demand" to FMB that "[f]or violation of Regulation E, [FMB] is liable to Walton for her actual damages, statutory damages, her reasonable attorney fees, and costs").] For "liability under Regulation E, she demanded "[a]s damages for violation of Regulation E, ... [$250,000], or [$50,000] for each checking and loan account closed, and miscellaneous damages or costs." [Filing No. 303-1 at 3.] She also stated that she was entitled to "attorney/consultant fees," which totaled $163,785.00 as of the date of her settlement demand. [Filing No. 303-1 at 3.] In light of Ms. Walton's demand in connection with her Regulation E claim, attorneys' fees of $57,751 to defend that claim are not unreasonable in relation to the work expended.
Because Ms. Walton has not contested specific time entries or hourly rates, the Court need not sift through each time entry and determine whether it was reasonable. See Fox v. Vice, 563 U.S. 826, 838 (2011) (Courts "need not, and indeed should not, become green-eyeshade accountants. The essential goal in shifting fees (to either party) is to do rough justice, not to achieve auditing perfection"). Having found that it was not unreasonable for FMB to use multiple attorneys, and that the amount of attorneys' fees was not disproportionate to the amount that Ms. Walton sought in connection with her Regulation E claim, the Court finds that $57,751.00 in attorneys' fees is "reasonable in relation to the work expended." 15 U.S.C. § 1693m(f).
For the foregoing reasons, the Court finds that FMB is entitled to $57,751.00 in attorneys' fees under 15 U.S.C. § 1693m(f). Final judgment shall enter accordingly.