Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-casd-3_18-cv-02099/USCOURTS-casd-3_18-cv-02099-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 490
Nature of Suit: Cable/ Satellite TV
Cause of Action: 47:0553 U.S.C.A. Cable Communications Policy Act

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3:18-cv-2099-CAB-LL

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

G & G CLOSED CIRCUIT EVENTS, 

LLC,

Plaintiff,

v.

JULIA C. BELTRAN, et al.,

Defendants.

Case No.: 3:18-cv-2099-CAB-LL

ORDER GRANTING PLAINITFF'S 

MOTION FOR ATTORNEY'S FEES

[Doc. No. 12]

On February 4, 2019, the Court entered default judgment in favor of Plaintiff, 

awarding $3,000 in statutory damages and $2,500 in compensatory damages. In the default 

judgment order, the Court acknowledged that Plaintiff is entitled to an award of reasonable 

attorneys’ fees and costs by right under 47 U.S.C. § 605, and gave Plaintiff until February 

15, 2019 to provide an accounting of the fees and costs it seeks. Plaintiff has now submitted 

a motion for attorneys’ fees and costs that includes an hourly accounting of the fees sought 

along with receipts for the costs requested. In total, Plaintiff seeks fees of $3,143.32 and 

costs of $1,147.41.

As for the fees, “[c]ourts first apply the lodestar method to determine a reasonable 

fee and then may adjust any award up or down depending on various factors.” J & J Sports 

Prods., Inc. v. Paz-Padilla, No. 3:12-CV-02228-GPC, 2013 WL 6002872, at *2 (S.D. Cal. 

Case 3:18-cv-02099-CAB-LL Document 13 Filed 03/01/19 PageID.<pageID> Page 1 of 2
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3:18-cv-2099-CAB-LL

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Nov. 12, 2013). “The lodestar is calculated by multiplying the number of hours the 

prevailing party reasonably expended by a reasonable hourly rate.” Id. Here, Plaintiffs’s 

counsel spent a total of 14.43 hours divided among a partner at a rate of $500/hour, a

research attorney at a rate of $300/hour, a paralegal at a rate of $200/hour, and an 

administrative assistant at a rate of $100/hour. The Court finds the total number of hours 

spent to be reasonable, and dividing the total fees sought ($3,143.32) by the total number 

of hours spent yields a rate of $217.83/hour, which the Court also finds to be a reasonable 

blended rate for this geographic area. Accordingly, the total amount of fees sought is 

reasonable.

As for the costs, section 605 instructs that the court “shall direct the recovery of full 

costs. . .” 47 U.S.C. § 605(e)(3)(B)(iii) (emphasis added). For this language to have any 

meaning it must include costs that go beyond those to which Plaintiff would be entitled as 

the prevailing party in the absence of this provision. To that end, Plaintiff seeks costs 

including investigative expenses ($500.00), filing fee ($400.00), service of process fees 

($202.00), and courier charges ($15.41), for a total of $1,117.41. These costs are allowed 

by law and reasonable.

Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED that Plaintiff’s motion for attorneys’ fees and 

costs is GRANTED and awards Plaintiff $3,143.32 in attorneys’ fees and $1,117.32 in 

costs.

It is SO ORDERED.

Dated: March 1, 2019

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