DURASERV LLC
v.
ACTION GARAGE DOOR REPAIR CORP.
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The court denied plaintiff's supplemental motion for attorney's fees and costs without prejudice due to procedural deficiencies, specifically the failure to include a legal memorandum as required by local rule. The court also identified substantive problems with the fee request, including hourly rates exceeding local market rates and potentially unreasonable billing for denied motions.
The motion is denied without prejudice primarily for failing to include a legal memorandum as required by Local Rule 3.01(a). Additionally, the court found substantive deficiencies: the hourly rates requested exceed prevailing market rates for similar legal services in the Fort Myers area, and the number of hours billed is unreasonable, particularly the $5,000 charged for a motion the court denied.
[1] A motion for attorney's fees and costs must be supported by a legal memorandum.
[2] A reasonable hourly rate for attorney's fees is the common rate in the geographic area for similar services by lawyers of reasonably comparable skills, experience, and re…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“A reasonable hourly rate is the common rate in the area for similar services by lawyers of reasonably comparable skills, experience and reputation.”
Establishes the standard for determining reasonable attorney hourly rates, requiring comparison to local market rates.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePlaintiff Duraserv LLC filed a supplemental motion for attorney's fees and costs accompanied by an expert declaration. The motion requested hourly rat…
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Before the Court is Plaintiffs Supplemental Motion for Determination of Attorney's Fees and Costs (Doc. 29) and Declaration of Expert Gregory N. Woods (Doc. 30). The motion is DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE for failure to include a legal memorandum supporting the request under Local Rule 3.01(a). Aside from this procedural issue, the motion faces other problems. First, it requests hourly rates far outside Fort Myers' market rates. Before filing any renewed motion, Plaintiff must review the caselaw concerning prevailing market rates. See, e.g., Norman v. Hous. Auth. of City of Montgomery, 836 F. 2d 1292, 1299 (11th Cir. 1988) (“A reasonable hourly rate is the common rate in the area for similar services by lawyers of reasonably comparable skills, experience and reputation."). Counsel should also review whether the number of hours is reasonable. For example, counsel charged over $5,000 for a motion that the Court denied as unnecessary. (Doc.
30-2 at 23; Doc. 12); see ACLU of Ga. v. Barnes, 168 F. 3d 423, 428 (11th Cir. 1999) (“Fee applicants must exercise billing judgment and exclude hours that would be unreasonable to bill to a client and therefore to one's adversary irrespective of the skill, reputation or experience of counsel.").
Any renewed motion must be filed by June 23, 2025.
ORDERED in Fort Myers, Florida on June 11, 2025.
Kyle C. Dudek United States Magistrate Judge
2
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Norman v. The Hous. Auth. OF the City OF Montgomery, 836 F.2d 1292 (11th Cir. 1988)