Opinion ID: 488034
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Quality Multipliers

Text: 33 Having computed the initial lodestar figure, the district court awarded discretionary quality multipliers of 1.5, and in one case 1.75, to six members of the PMC on the ground that these attorneys had exhibited exceptional skills in the litigation and settlement negotiations. The six PMC recipients now challenge the level of the multipliers as being unjustifiably low and further challenge the district court's failure to award quality multipliers in connection with the fees of the three other PMC members. 34 The decision to allow a quality multiplier rests in the sound discretion of the district court, Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 437, 103 S.Ct. 1933, 1941, 76 L.Ed.2d 40 (1983); Grinnell II, 560 F.2d at 1098, due to the district court's superior understanding of the litigation and the desirability of avoiding frequent appellate review of what essentially are factual matters. Hensley, 461 U.S. at 437, 103 S.Ct. at 1941. The Supreme Court, however, in Blum v. Stenson, 465 U.S. 886, 899, 104 S.Ct. 1541, 1549, 79 L.Ed.2d 891 (1984), and more recently in Pennsylvania v. Delaware Valley Citizens' Council for Clean Air, --- U.S. ----, 106 S.Ct. 3088, 92 L.Ed.2d 439 (1986), has severely restricted those instances in which a district court may allow such a multiplier. 2 35 In Blum, a decision concerning application of the lodestar analysis to a fee award under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1988, the Court determined that factors such as quality of representation are presumed to be fully reflected in the initial lodestar figure, derived by multiplying the number of hours reasonably billed by the court-established hourly rate. Blum, 465 U.S. at 899, 104 S.Ct. at 1549. Accordingly, the Court concluded that an adjustment to the lodestar figure for such a factor would only be proper in the rare case where the fee applicant offers specific evidence to show that the quality of service rendered was superior to that one reasonably should expect in light of the hourly rates charged and that the success was 'exceptional.'  Id. (emphasis added). In Delaware Valley Citizens' Council, a decision concerning application of the lodestar analysis to a fee award under section 304(d) of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C.A. Sec. 7604(d) (West 1983), the Court reaffirmed the narrow approach taken in Blum, declaring that calculating fee awards under the lodestar analysis leaves very little room for enhancing the award based on [counsel's] post-engagement performance. Delaware Valley Citizens' Council, 106 S.Ct. at 3098. 36 Given these pronouncements, the issue, in our view, is not whether the quality multipliers awarded by the district court here were set too low, but rather whether they should have been awarded at all. In what we consider to be a close case, we conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in awarding the multipliers for quality to six of the PMC members, or in failing to award them to the other three members. 37 The district court specifically found that these six attorneys, as well as several outside counsel who have not appealed, deserved to be awarded quality multipliers at various rates because each had demonstrated an unusual degree of skill in presenting complex and often novel issues to the court, Agent Orange, 611 F.Supp. at 1328, or had shown a level of organization and efficiency that goes beyond what is usually expected, id. Under ordinary circumstances, even assuming the high level of work performed by counsel here, we would be constrained to reverse the district court's award in light of the severe restrictions set forth in Blum and Delaware Valley Citizens' Council. While the work indeed may have been of high quality, the presumption is that such factors already are reflected in the initial lodestar figure. 38 In this case, however, we find that the use of a national hourly rate skews the normal lodestar analysis enough to require consideration of quality factors in order to satisfy the requirements of just and fair compensation. While we affirm the use of national rates in the present case, we realize that such rates inherently cannot be calculated as precisely as those under the forum rule, or those under the varying locale rule. Consequently, the Blum and Delaware Valley Citizens' Council presumption of inclusion of quality factors within the initial lodestar figure should not, in our view, apply to those instances in which the district court utilizes this less precise analysis.