Opinion ID: 52313
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: hobbses' attorneys' fees

Text: The Hobbses' fourth claim, that the magistrate judge erred in calculating and awarding their attorneys' fees, is reviewed for abuse of discretion. Texas Commerce Bank Nat'l Ass'n v. Capital Bancshares, Inc., 907 F.2d 1571, 1575 (5th Cir.1990) (An award of attorney's fees is entrusted to the sound discretion of the trial court.) (citation omitted). The magistrate judge granted the Hobbses attorneys' fees of $37,000. They dispute this finding and request over $140,000 in attorneys' fees. In diversity cases such as this one, state law governs the award of attorneys' fees. Id. The magistrate judge's determination is reasonable in light of the jury verdict of $34,359, in which the Hobbses were unsuccessful on four breach of contract claims and five non-contract claims. The magistrate judge reasonably concluded that the unsuccessful claims were not sufficiently intertwined with successful claims to merit an award of attorneys' fees. Stewart Title Guar. Co. v. Aiello, 941 S.W.2d 68, 73 (Tex.1997). Therefore, the magistrate judge's award of attorneys' fees is affirmed.