Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-casd-3_07-cv-01163/USCOURTS-casd-3_07-cv-01163-2/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 890
Nature of Suit: Other Statutory Actions
Cause of Action: 15:1125 Trademark Infringement (Lanham Act)

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07cv1163-BTM (BLM)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

FIELDTURF USA, INC., a Florida

corporation; FIELDTURF TARKETT,

INC., a Canadian company,

Plaintiff,

v.

TURF TECHNOLOGIES, INC., a

California corporation,

Defendants. 

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Case No. 07cv1163-BTM (BLM)

ORDER IMPOSING SANCTIONS

On February 27, 2008, this Court convened a Mandatory

Settlement Conference (“MSC”). In the order setting the MSC, the

Court stated that “[i]n addition to counsel who will try the case,

a party or party representative with full settlement authority must

be present for the conference.” Doc. No. 12 (emphasis in original)

(footnote omitted). Plaintiffs, their counsel, and Defendant’s

attorney complied with the Court’s order and appeared at the

conference prepared to discuss settlement. Defendant Turf

Technologies, however, failed to have a representative attend the

conference.

As a result of Defendant’s failure, the Court issued an order

Case 3:07-cv-01163-BTM-BLM Document 36 Filed 05/06/08 Page 1 of 8
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to show cause why Defendant should not be sanctioned for disobeying

this Court’s order. Doc. No. 20. The Court specifically required

David Willis, an officer of Turf Technologies, to appear at a

hearing on March 20, 2008, and to submit a declaration regarding

the imposition of sanctions. Id. Mr. Willis both failed to appear

at this hearing and to submit the required declaration.

The Court also invited Plaintiffs to submit a declaration of

costs incurred as a result of Defendant’s failure to attend the

MSC. Id. Plaintiffs did so, stating that they had incurred

$19,540.21 in attorneys’ fees, costs related to preparing for and

attending the MSC, and lost wages. Doc. No. 25. 

LEGAL STANDARD AND SANCTIONS AWARDED

Courts “unquestionably” possess the inherent power to assess

sanctions for the “willful disobedience of a court order.” Alyeska

Pipeline Service Co. v. Wilderness Society , 421 U.S. 240, 258-59

(1975); Chambers v. NASCO, Inc., 501 U.S. 32, 45 (1991). Further,

this District’s Local Rules of Practice dictate that a party’s

“failure to comply with ... any order of the court may be ground

for imposition by the court of ... monetary sanctions or attorney’s

fees and costs.” CivLR 83.1.

An award of sanctions must be “reasonable,” and when it “is

based upon attorney’s fees and related expenses, an essential part

of determining the reasonableness of the award is determining the

reasonableness of the claimed fees.” Matter of Yagman, 796 F.2d

1165, 1184-85 (9th Cir. 1986). Sanctions are not determined by the

“actual expenses and fees but those the court determines to be

reasonable.” Id. at 1185. The award must be “quantifiable with

some precision and properly itemized in terms of the perceived

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In his declaration, attorney Jody Factor states that Exhibit 1 is an

“itemized spreadsheet showing the attorneys’ fees and costs” and “includes

detailed, itemized descriptions of the contributions by me, including the hours

spent in association with my legal services as well as one of my associates, the

dates of such services, a description of the services, and all out of pocket

costs incurred-including air fare, hotel, meals, etc.” Doc. No. 25-1 at 2-3.

However, Exhibit 1 merely contains a list of dates, initials, hours and

attorneys’ fees and travel costs. Doc. No. 25-2 at 1-2. It does not include any

description of the legal services. Id.

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misconduct and the sanctioning authority.” Id. at 1185. 

Because Defendant and Mr. Willis failed to comply with this

Court’s orders, the Court finds it appropriate to sanction them.

Plaintiffs request reimbursement, in the form of sanctions, for the

costs they incurred in preparing for the settlement conference,

traveling to and attending the settlement conference, including

lost wages for the days associated with those activities, and

preparing the pleadings supporting their sanction request. The

Court finds the $19,540.21 sanction requested by Plaintiffs is

unreasonable and declines to award the entire amount. 

1. Preparing for the Settlement Conference

The attorneys for Plaintiffs state they spent 12.75 hours

working on this case in the days leading up to the settlement

conference and that the resulting attorneys’ fees total $4,575.00.

Doc. Nos. 25 at 3, 25-1 at 2, 25-1 at 1. However, the attorneys do

not provide any information or explanation regarding the specific

work they performed.1 Doc. No. 25-2 at 1. 

The Court declines to include the requested attorneys’ fees in

the sanctions award. The Court’s order setting the settlement

conference required both parties to prepare for the conference by

submitting settlement statements and discussing settlement options

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Plaintiffs submitted their airfare request in Canadian dollars. Doc. No.

25-2 at 3, 9-12. The exchange rate on February 20, 2008, the day the airline

tickets were purchased, was $1.01 Canadian to one U.S. dollar. Accordingly, the

Court will use $618.89 as the airfare costs incurred by Mr. Squires.

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and strategies (Doc. No. 12) and the Court presumes this is the

work the attorneys performed and for which they seek reimbursement.

This preparation was required by the Court regardless of whether

Defendant appeared at the conference. Moreover, the preparation

work will support any future settlement discussions. Lockary, 974

F.2d at 1178 (court should only award fees that the moving party

would not have otherwise expended). Accordingly, the Court does

not include the requested $4,575.00 in the final sanction amount.

2. Traveling to and Attending the Settlement Conference

Plaintiffs also request $12,071.33 for the costs incurred by

the attorney and client representative in traveling to and

attending the settlement conference. Doc. Nos. 25-1 and 25-2.

Plaintiffs request $6,400 in attorneys’ fees for the sixteen hours

Mr. Factor spent on the case on February 27 and 28 (Doc. No. 25-2

at 1), $371.00 in round-trip airfare to San Diego, $202.70 for

three days of meals, $939.01 for unspecified hotel expenses,

$122.00 in cab fare to and from the airport, and $60.00 apparently

for three days of airport parking (id. at 2). For the corporate

representative, Troy Squires, Plaintiffs request $612.77 Canadian

for airfare2

, $50.00 in cab fares, $474.35 for one night’s hotel

expenses, $2,252.04 for three days’ salary, and $581.34 for

“Miscellaneous San Diego Expenses.” Id. at 3. Mr. Squires

provides receipts and documents supporting his expenses. Id. at 4-

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15. The miscellaneous expenses include food and $449.86 spent to

purchase a new jacket and tie because his luggage was lost. Id. at

5.

Defense counsel contacted Plaintiffs’ counsel prior to the MSC

and advised Plaintiffs’ counsel that it was unlikely that

Defendant’s representative would appear at the MSC. As a result,

Plaintiffs knew or should have known that the conference likely

would be short, and both the attorney and representative could have

made arrangements to conduct other work during the time not spent

in the settlement conference. Accordingly, the Court finds the

requested sixteen hours of attorney’s fees and three days of salary

unreasonable. Because the settlement conference lasted

approximately thirty minutes, the Court finds that one hour of

attorney’s fees is reasonable and therefore includes $400.00 in the

sanction award. 

The Court determines that reasonable expenses incurred to

travel to the settlement conference should be included in the

sanctions amount, however, the Court finds that several of the

requested expenses are not reasonable. Yagman, 796 F.2d at 1185

(sanctions not determined by “actual expenses and fees but those

the court determines to be reasonable”). Initially, the Court

finds that the flight costs, one night’s hotel, and two days of

meals for both individuals are reasonable and appropriate expenses.

The settlement conference finished by approximately 2:00 p.m. on

February 27, 2008, and Plaintiffs have not provided any support for

a second night and third day in San Diego. The Court, therefore,

declines to include in the sanction award any costs incurred for

lodging on February 27th or other expenses on February 28th. 

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This figure includes the following expenses for Mr. Factor: $400 attorney’s

fees, $469.50 hotel, $371 airfare, $36.25 meals on 2/26, $112.82 meals on 2/27,

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In his request, Mr. Factor merely lists his hotel expenses as

“2/26/2008 Travel-Hotel 939.01.” Doc. No. 25-2 at 2. He does not

provide a corresponding receipt or any other documentation

supporting this expense. Lacking additional support and in light

of Mr. Squires’ hotel expense, the Court presumes that Mr. Factor’s

request includes two nights of lodging and therefore includes only

half of that amount ($469.50) in the sanction award. 

Similarly, the Court declines to include the meal and parking

expenses incurred by Mr. Factor on the third day, February 28th.

Second, Mr. Factor, again without documentation, requests $122.00

for “Travel-cabs to and from airport.” Because Mr. Factor also

requests parking expenses, the Court presumes the cab costs are to

and from the San Diego airport. Because the courthouse and

numerous hotels are located near the airport with cab fares costing

approximately $15.00 one way, the Court finds Mr. Factor’s

unsupported request unreasonable and declines to include it. See

Yagman, 796 F.2d at 85 (requiring sanctioned items to be “properly

itemized” court to “scrutinize expenses [party] claimed to have

incurred). 

Finally, Mr. Squires requests $449.86 because his luggage was

lost and he had to purchase clothing appropriate for court. This

expense is not attributable to Defendant’s failure to appear at the

settlement conference and therefore the Court declines to include

it in the sanction award. Accordingly, the Court finds the

reasonable expenses incurred by Plaintiffs in traveling to and

attending the MSC total $2,704.293

 and includes that amount in the

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and $40 airport parking; and for Mr. Squires: $474.35 hotel, $618.89 airfare, $50

cab fares, and $131.48 meals. 

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sanction award.

3. Preparing the Sanction Request Pleadings

Plaintiffs state that an associate (NSL) spent eight hours and

Mr. Factor spent 2.25 hours preparing the pleadings filed in

response to the Court’s OSC order. Doc. No. 25-2 at 16. As a

result, Plaintiffs request reimbursement in the amount of $2,900.

Id. However, once again, Plaintiffs fail to provide any support or

explanation for their request. They do not describe the work the

attorneys performed or explain why it took 10.25 hours. Id. The

Court’s review of the filed pleadings does not justify 10.25 hours,

nor the requested $2,900 fee. 

Because Plaintiffs did not provide sufficient, detailed

support for their request, the Court declines to award the

requested amount and instead determines that a reasonable award is

half of the requested amount, or $1,450. Margolis v. Ryan, 140

F.3d 850, 854-55 (9th Cir. 1998) (whether or not to award expenses

incurred in preparing Rule 11 sanctions motion is matter within

court’s discretion); Lockary v. Kayfetz, 974 F.2d 1166, 1177 (9th

Cir. 1992) (sanctioning judge has discretion to parse and estimate

attorney’s fees when attorneys itemize time, but do not specify

nature of work performed). 

CONCLUSION

The Court finds that Defendant knowingly and intentionally

violated this Court’s order by failing to appear as ordered at the

MSC, failing to file declaration(s) in response to the Court’s OSC,

and failing to appear as ordered at the OSC. As a result of

Defendant’s failures to comply with court orders, Plaintiffs

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Payment may be made by delivering the funds to the Clerk’s Office or by

mailing a check to the attention of Financial at 880 Front Street, Suite 4290,

San Diego, California 92101 (the check should reference the case number and

sanctions order).

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suffered economic damages and the Court finds it appropriate to

sanction Defendant in the amount of the reasonable costs incurred

by Plaintiffs as a result of Defendant’s failures to comply. For

the reasons set forth above, the Court finds that the reasonable

costs total $4,154.29. Accordingly, for its failure to attend the

MSC, file the required declarations, and attend the OSC, Defendant

Turf Technologies, Inc. is ordered to pay Plaintiffs $4,154.29 by

May 23, 2008. In addition, Defendant must file a Notice of Payment

on or before May 30, 2008 verifying that it paid this sanction.

The Court also finds that David Willis knowingly and

intentionally failed to comply with this Court’s order to file a

declaration regarding the imposition of sanctions and to appear at

the OSC. For these failures, the Court sanctions Mr. Willis

$300.00. Mr. Willis is ordered to pay $300.00 to the Court’s

Library Fund4 on or before May 23, 2008. In addition, he must file

a Notice of Payment on or before May 30, 2008 verifying that he

paid this sanction.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

DATED: May 6, 2008

BARBARA L. MAJOR

United States Magistrate Judge

COPY TO:

HONORABLE BARRY TED MOSKOWITZ

U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE

ALL COUNSEL

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