Opinion ID: 612823
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Attorneys' Fees under the FCBA

Text: Pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1640(a)(3), in the case of any successful action to enforce a creditor's liability under the FCBA, the plaintiff is also entitled to a reasonable attorney's fee as determined by the court. There was no dispute  even before this appeal  that Lyon's FCBA claims were successful and that he is entitled to recover reasonable attorneys' fees under § 1640(a)(3). An award of attorneys' fees under § 1640(a)(3) is properly calculated through a lodestar analysis, in which the court determines a reasonable rate and multiplies it by the number of attorney hours reasonably expended on the case. See generally Caudle v. Bristow Optical Co., 224 F.3d 1014, 1028-29 (9th Cir.2000). While accepting Lyon's proposed rate as reasonable, the magistrate judge determined that Lyon could only recover fees for specific aspects of his FCBA claims. Following our decision here, however, Lyon has succeeded on all aspects of his FCBA claims pursued up to this point in the litigation. Accordingly, Lyon is entitled to recover reasonable attorneys' fees incurred for all work undertaken in pursuit of his FCBA claims up to now, including those fees incurred as part of this appeal. We therefore reverse the magistrate judge's order and remand the issue of attorneys' fees for further proceedings. Although Lyon has now conceded that he may not recover fees incurred during the trial  which involved only the unsuccessful defamation claim  he is entitled to recover a portion of those fees incurred for pre-trial tasks that related to both his FCBA and defamation claims. See Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 434-35, 103 S.Ct. 1933, 76 L.Ed.2d 40 (1983); Traditional Cat Ass'n v. Gilbreath, 340 F.3d 829, 833-35 (9th Cir.2003). [11] The fee award may be reduced if Lyon's renewed request is supported only by block-billing statements of the relevant activity, although a fee award cannot be denied on this basis. See Mendez v. Cnty. of San Bernardino, 540 F.3d 1109, 1128-29 (9th Cir.2008); Welch v. Metro. Life Ins. Co., 480 F.3d 942, 948-49 (9th Cir.2007). These issues will have to be addressed on remand.