Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-5_04-cv-04479/USCOURTS-cand-5_04-cv-04479-13/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 890
Nature of Suit: Other Statutory Actions
Cause of Action: 15:1692 Fair Debt Collection Act

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28 This disposition is not designated for publication and may not be cited. 1

Case No. C 04-04479 JF (HRL)

ORDER AWARDING ATTORNEYS’S FEES AND COSTS 

(JFEX2)

**E-Filed 7/05/07 **

NOT FOR CITATION

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

SAN JOSE DIVISION

JEANNIE PANAHIASL and SANDY PIERSON, 

 Plaintiff,

 v.

CREDITCARE, INC., d/b/a CREDIT C.A.R.E.,

INC. and MIKE GURNEY, a/k/a Tom Wright,

 Defendants.

Case Number C 04-04479 JF (HRL)

ORDER AWARDING 1

ATTORNEYS’S FEES AND COSTS 

[re: docket no. 95]

I. BACKGROUND

Mike Gurney (“Gurney”) is the president of CreditCare, Inc. (“CreditCare”) a private

corporation that engages in debt collection. On October 22, 2004, Plaintiffs Jeannie Panahiasl

and Sandy Pierson filed the present claim alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection

Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1692 (“FDCPA”), the California Fair Debt Collection Practices Act,

Cal. Civ. Code § 1788, and the California Unfair Business Practices Act, Cal. Bus. & Prof. §

Case 5:04-cv-04479-JF Document 98 Filed 07/05/07 Page 1 of 4
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28 CreditCare has since filed for bankruptcy. 2

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Case No. C 04-04479 JF (HRL)

ORDER AWARDING ATTORNEYS’S FEES AND COST

(JFEX2)

17200-17205, as well as related common law tort claims. 

2

On August 26, 2005 the Court granted CreditCare’s motion for leave to file a counterclaim against Panahiasl. On August 31, 2005 CreditCare counterclaimed against Panahiasl for

breach of contract and fraud. On November 8, 2005 the Court granted the motion of Defendant’s

counsel to withdraw. On March 8, 2007 the Court entered default judgment in favor of Plaintiffs

for $65,000 plus reasonable attorneys’s fees and costs. 

II. DISCUSSION

One lawyer and three paralegals worked on this matter on behalf of Plaintiffs. Using the

lodestar method, Plaintiffs requests the following fees and costs:

Attorney Hours Hourly Rate Total

Ronald Wilcox 132.4 $300 $39,720.00

Paralegals N/A $90-125 $3,181.50

Costs $484.69

Total N/A $43,386.19

With the exception of CreditCare filing of its counterclaim, this action was relatively

routine. The motion practice in this case was simple and limited, and three months after

CreditCare filed its counterclaim it ceased participating in the litigation. Plaintiffs assert that

litigation of this action was made extremely difficult by the Defendant’s conduct. Motion 3. 

Plaintiffs asserts that Defendant refused to provide documents unless their counsel brought a

copy machine to the location where Gurney kept the documents, and that Gurney failed to appear

at his deposition, despite an order compelling him to do so. Id. These failures extended the

litigation, but they did not pose complex legal issues. 

The Court agrees that $300 is the appropriate hourly rate in this action for Wilcox. The

Court reaches this conclusion on the basis that the action required some motion practice and

involved a counterclaim, albeit short-lived. See e.g. Finkelstein v. Bergna, 804 F.Supp. 1235,

1243 (N.D. Cal. 1992) (explaining that the appropriate hourly rate is related to the complexity of

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Wyatt v. CreditCare, Inc., Case No. C 04-03681 JF (N.D. Cal. June 29, 2007) 3

 The Court has reviewed the paralegal fees and costs sought by Plaintiff and finds them 4

appropriate.

3

Case No. C 04-04479 JF (HRL)

ORDER AWARDING ATTORNEYS’S FEES AND COST

(JFEX2)

the case); Solloway v. Allied Interstate, 06-04814, Case No. C 06-04479 JF (N.D. Cal.,

November 13, 2006) (determining that $300 an hour was appropriate compensation for Wilcox). 

However, having reviewed the papers filed by the parties and the supporting declarations,

the Court concludes that a reduction in the number of hours of work performed by Plaintiffs’s

counsel is appropriate. The issues Plaintiffs’s counsel dealt with in the instant action are

identical to those in the Wyatt litigation. Moreover, after CreditCare’s counsel withdrew on 3

November 18, 2005, the activity in the litigation consisted mainly of case management

conferences. Accordingly, the Court will reduce Wilcox’s hours by twenty-five percent. In light

of these adjustments, the Court awards the following fees and costs:

Attorney Hours Hourly Rate Total

Ronald Wilcox 99.3 $300 $29,790.00

Paralegal N/A $90-125 $3,181.50

Costs $484.69 4

Total N/A $33,456.19

III. ORDER

Good cause therefor appearing, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiffs be awarded

$33,456.19 for attorneys’s fees and costs. 

DATED: July 5, 2007.

 

JEREMY FOGEL

United States District Judge

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Case No. C 04-04479 JF (HRL)

ORDER AWARDING ATTORNEYS’S FEES AND COST

(JFEX2)

This Order has been served upon the following persons:

Ronald Wilcox: ronaldwilcox@post.harvard.edu

Notice has been delivered by other means to:

CreditCare, Inc.

17760 Monterey Rd., #E

Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Case 5:04-cv-04479-JF Document 98 Filed 07/05/07 Page 4 of 4