Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-azd-2_20-cv-00271/USCOURTS-azd-2_20-cv-00271-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Boeing Company
Petitioner
MD Helicopters Incorporated
Respondent

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WO

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

Boeing Company,

Petitioner,

v. 

MD Helicopters Incorporated,

Respondent.

No. CV-20-00271-PHX-JAT

ORDER 

Petitioner Boeing Company (“Petitioner”) previously filed an unopposed petition 

and motion to confirm a favorable arbitration award against Respondent MD Helicopters 

Incorporated (“Respondent”) with this Court. (Docs. 1, 5). The Court granted the motion 

and petition, which each contained requests for reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs 

incurred in obtaining confirmation of the award. (Docs. 1 at 7; 5 at 5; 13 at 4–5). Petitioner 

has since filed its application for fees and costs. (Doc. 15). Yet again, Respondent offers 

no opposition.

All told, Petitioner seeks recovery for 16.3 hours spent on the documents submitted 

to the Court in pursuit of confirming the arbitration award. (Doc. 15-2 at 2). After reviewing 

the list of entries for which Petitioner seeks fees, and considering the factors outlined in 

LRCiv. 54.2(c)(3), the Court concludes that the time worked and the rates charged1are 

 

1 Counsel for Petitioner billed $499.80 an hour until promoted to partner, when his hourly 

fee increased to $519.80. (Doc. 15-1 at 2). The paralegal who assisted him billed $294.50

an hour. (Id.). Although counsel’s uncontradicted declaration is itself evidence of the 

reasonableness of these hourly rates, the Court independently notes that they are in line 

with recent cases in this district discussing the rates of experienced attorneys and paralegals 

involved in complex litigation. See, e.g., Excel Fortress Ltd. v. Wilhelm, No. CV-17-04297-

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reasonable with one exception. A reasonable award of attorneys’ fees typically does not 

include fees incurred for time spent filing papers. See, e.g., Gary v. Carbon Cycle Ariz. 

LLC, 398 F. Supp. 3d 468, 487 (D. Ariz. 2019). Unless the fee applicant demonstrates 

attorneys in the forum district customarily bill such secretarial work separately, the usual 

assumption is that it is subsumed in a law firm’s overhead. Trs. of Constr. Indus. & 

Laborers Health & Welfare Tr. v. Redlands Ins. Co., 460 F.3d 1253, 1257 (9th Cir. 2006); 

see also Nadarajah v. Holder, 569 F.3d 906, 921 (9th Cir. 2009). Even then, secretarial 

work should not be billed at an attorney’s rate. Missouri v. Jenkins, 491 U.S. 274, 288 n.10 

(1989). Given the absence of any such showing from Petitioner’s counsel, the Court will 

deduct $415.84 charged for the 0.8 hours of time counsel spent filing papers.

As for the remaining hours, given the lack of any opposition, the Court will adhere 

to the usual course of “defer[ring] to the winning lawyer’s professional judgment as to how 

much time he [or she] was required to spend on the case,” Ryan v. Editions Ltd. W., Inc., 

786 F.3d 754, 763 (9th Cir. 2015) (second alteration in original) (quoting Moreno v. City 

of Sacramento, 534 F.3d 1106, 1112 (9th Cir. 2008)), and find those hours reasonable.

Accordingly,

IT IS ORDERED that Petitioner Boeing Company’s Unopposed Application for 

Fees and Costs (Doc. 15) is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART. Petitioner is 

awarded $7,568.42 in fees. Petitioner’s request for costs is DENIED for lack of procedural 

compliance with LRCiv. 54.1.

Dated this 22nd day of April, 2020.

 

PHX-DWL, 2019 WL 5294837, at *4 (D. Ariz. Oct. 18, 2019); Kaufman v. Warner Bros. 

Entm’t Inc., No. CV-16-02248-PHX-JAT, 2019 WL 2084460, at *13 (D. Ariz. May 13, 

2019); Lexington Ins. Co. v. Scott Homes Multifamily Inc., No. CV-12-02119-PHX-JAT,

2016 WL 5118316, at *15 (D. Ariz. Sept. 21, 2016).

Case 2:20-cv-00271-JAT Document 16 Filed 04/22/20 Page 2 of 2