$628,083.75 Fee Request (Lodestar With 1.5 Multiplier) Was Rejected by Trial Court.
Espinoza v. County of Orange, Case No. G043067/G043345 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Feb. 9, 2012) (unpublished) is a situation where a civil rights plaintiff did win $820,000 in damages against Orange County, but was less than happy when the lower court only awarded fees of $194,581 rather than the $628,083.75 (lodestar plus 1.5 proposed multiplier) requested by plaintiff.
Plaintiff’s appeal did not gain him any more fees.
Acting Presiding Justice Rylaarsdam, writing for a 3-0 panel, found no abuse of discretion in the amount of the fee award and found no indication that the lower court misapplied lodestar standards in fashioning the award. The defense suggested a $167,741.25 award, based on a lodestar de-enhanced by a .5 multiplier reduction. The lower court found plaintiff’s request--75% of damages--to be “astonishing” in nature, because it believed the case was not that complex or intellectually demanding. Beyond that, plaintiff did not prevail on all claims, so that limited success was another basis justiying the reduced award.
The lower court also properly denied $45,000 in expert witness fees when it found that the expert was not very illuminating during trial.
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