Opinion ID: 717546
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Self-Help's and Jackson's Cross-Appeal

Text: 60 In their cross-appeal, Self-Help and Jackson argue that the magistrate erred in reducing their attorney's fees award without allowing supplemental discovery on Andrade's actual financial condition. 61 Once it has calculated the lodestar for a prevailing defendant, the district court may deny or reduce that amount after considering the plaintiff's financial condition. See Charves v. Western Union Tel. Co., 711 F.2d 462, 465 (1st Cir.1983). This court has recognized that while an award of attorney's fees to a prevailing defendant must not subject the plaintiff to financial ruin, it also must fulfill the deterrent purpose of § 1988 and 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(k) in discouraging plaintiffs from bringing frivolous claims. Id. 62 Having calculated Self-Help's and Jackson's lodestar in defending Counts I and IV to be $40,810.90, the magistrate drastically reduced this amount to $1,000 because of his assessment of Andrade's impecunity. In determining that Andrade had limited financial resources, the magistrate considered her workers' compensation benefits of approximately $95/week, her subsidized housing, and her car. The magistrate, however, also considered that Andrade was awarded a judgment of $7,183 in compensatory damages and $500 in punitive damages. 63 Self-Help and Jackson challenge the modest attorney's fees award, claiming that the magistrate mistakenly applied the law in failing to allow for separate discovery regarding Andrade's financial condition. In particular, they claim that in addition to the three sources of financial resources that the magistrate cited, the record also revealed that Andrade was formerly a partner in two real estate ventures. Andrade testified that she thinks her partnership in West Associates, a real estate brokerage firm, was a loss and that she lost about $50,000 as a partner in Erban Andrade Associates. Self-Help and Jackson argue that this testimony reveals that the magistrate did not consider all of Andrade's financial resources in determining her financial condition and therefore he should have permitted supplemental discovery to ascertain Andrade's actual financial condition. 64 Self-Help's and Jackson's sole support for this proposition comes from our decision in Charves, 711 F.2d at 462. However, Charves is distinguishable. In Charves, we upheld the district court's authorization of supplemental discovery because of its finding that the plaintiff was not a credible witness (the court characterized her testimony about her financial condition as evasive and contradictory) and its suspicion that the plaintiff had attempted to place her assets beyond the reach of anyone lawfully entitled to look to the same. Id. at 465. We can discern neither of these justifications in the present case. 65 From the vantage point of reviewing a cold appellate record, Andrade's testimony that she thinks her partnership in West Associates was a loss does not appear to be evasive. Moreover, it was well within the district court's discretion to credit Andrade's testimony about her financial condition and therefore deny Self-Help's and Jackson's request for supplemental discovery, finding that it had all of the information regarding Andrade's financial condition before it. Accordingly, we decline to remand this case to allow discovery of Andrade's financial condition, heeding the Supreme Court's warning that [a] request for attorney's fees should not result in a second major litigation. 10 Hensley, 461 U.S. at 437, 103 S.Ct. at 1941.