ENTRY AND ORDER SETTING AN EVIDENTIARY HEARING

THOMAS M. ROSE, District Judge.

Plaintiff Carin Miller has filed a Motion for Default Judgment against Infinity Marketing Solutions, Inc. (Doc. #26.) To decide this Motion, the Court must determine the amount of statutory damages, if any, due, the amount of out-of-pocket costs, if any, due and the amount of attorneys' fees, if any, due. To facilitate making this determination, the Court will conduct an evidentiary hearing at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, April 9, 2015, in Courtroom #2 of the Federal Building in Dayton, Ohio.

A part of this Hearing may involve receiving evidence regarding attorneys' fees. Therefore, to expedite the matter and avoid confusion, the Court will set forth the standards it uses to determine awards of attorneys' fees.

DETERMINATION OF AWARD OF ATTORNEYS' FEES

When determining an award of attorneys' fees, this Court uses the lodestar amount. The lodestar amount is a reasonable hourly rate times a reasonable number of hours worked. Imwalle v. Reliance Medical Products, Inc., 515 F.3d 531, 551 (6th Cir. 2008); Jordan v. City of Cleveland, 464 F.3d 584, 602 (6th Cir. 2006). The result is the lodestar amount which is the reasonable fee to which counsel is entitled. Imwalle, 515 F.3d ast 552.

Reasonable Hourly Rate

The Court has a broad discretion in determining what constitutes a reasonable hourly rate. Hudson v. Reno, 130 F.3d 1193, 1208 (6th Cir. 1997), cert. denied, 525 U.S. 822 (1987). The reasonable hourly rate is generally the prevailing market rate in the relevant community. Blum v. Stenson, 465 U.S. 886, 895 (1984). The prevailing market rate is the rate that lawyers of comparable skill and experience can reasonably expect to command in the venue of the court of record.1 Geier v. Sundquist, 372 F.3d 784, 791 (6th Cir. 2004), remanded on other grounds. However, courts may look to other markets, such as a national market, an area of specialization or any other appropriate market for a prevailing market rate. Louisville Black Police Officers Organization v. City of Louisville, 700 F.2d 268, 278 (6th Cir. 1983).

The reasonable hourly rate must be adequately compensatory to attract competent counsel yet must avoid producing a windfall for lawyers. Reed v. Rhodes, 179 F.3d 453, 471 (6th Cir. 1999). "In most communities, the marketplace has set a value for the services of attorneys, and the hourly rate charged by an attorney for his or her services will normally reflect the training, background, experience and skill of the individual attorney." Northcross v. Board of Education of Memphis City Schools, 611 F.2d 624, 638 (6th Cir. 1979), cert. denied 447 U.S. 911 (1980). However, the reasonable hourly rate is not necessarily the exact value sought by a particular firm, but is rather the market rate in the venue sufficient to encourage competent representation. Gonter v. Hunt Valve Co., Inc., 510 F.3d 610, 618 (6th Cir. 2007).

Reasonable Number of Hours

When determining the reasonable number of hours, "the standard is whether a reasonable attorney would have believed the work to be reasonably expended in pursuit of success at the point in time when the work was performed." Wooldridge v. Marlene Industries Corp., 898 F.2d 1169, 1177 (6th Cir. 1990). In addition, the evidence provided in support of the hours charged must be sufficiently detailed to enable the court to determine, with a high degree of certainty, that such hours were actually and reasonably expended. Bench Billboard Company v. City of Toledo, 759 F.Supp.2d 905, 913 (N.D. Ohio 2010)(citing United Slate Tile and Composition Roofers v. G & M Roofing and Sheet Metal Co., Inc., 732 F.2d 495, n.2 (6th Cir. 1984)), aff'd 499 F. App'x 538 (6th Cir. 2012), cert. denied, 133 S.Ct. 1252 (2013). Thus, where the documentation is inadequate, the court may reduce the award accordingly. Id. (citing Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 433 (1983)).

Many times the documentation for a reasonable number of hours is in the form of attorney's time sheets. Quarter-hour billing increments on time sheets invite downward adjustment of the reasonable number of hours. Id.(citing Corbis Corp. v. Starr, 719 F.Supp.2d 843, 845-46 (N.D. Ohio 2010)); see also Douglas R. Richmond, The New Law Firm Economy, Billable Hours and Professional Responsibility, 29 Hofstra L. Rev. 207,234 (2000). As one district court has observed, "very few telephone calls last more than one-tenth of an hour and... it rarely takes more than one-tenth of an hour to read an incoming letter or write a short outgoing letter." In re Tom Carter Enterprises, 55 B.R. 548, 549 (Bankr. C.D. Cal. 1985).

Further, several courts have found that keeping time in quarter-hour increments is a feeenhancing, rather that a fee-constraining mechanism. United Slate Tile and Composition, 759 F. Supp.2d at 914. "Billing in quarter-hour increments generates a fee that is 15% higher than billing in a tenth of an hour." Id. at 915. "To compensate for inflation imposed by quarter-hour billing increments, other courts have reduced the attorney's fee award by 20%." Id.(citing various opinions).

DONE and ORDERED