Opinion ID: 4020402
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Conferencing

Text: Defendants complain that counsel spent unreasonable time conferencing with one another. First, Defendants note that 1,190 entries—659 in SEIU, 531 in NEOCH—include some form of internal conference. Defendants claim that routine block billing makes it impossible to tell how much time is billed just for conferencing, but even a conservative estimate suggest 650+ conferencing hours (300 in NEOCH, 370 in SEIU Local 1). This amounts to more than a tenth of the awarded hours. “There is no hard-and-fast rule as to how many lawyers can be at a meeting or how many hours lawyers can spend discussing a project.” Gautreaux, 491 F.3d at 661. As this court remarked in Coulter, “[h]ours spent in reviewing records, talking to other lawyers or experts, 7 Defendants’ complaints about block billing are unfounded. This court has held block billing “can be sufficient” if the description of the work performed is adequate. Smith v. Serv. Master Corp., 592 F. App’x 363, 371 (6th Cir. 2014); see also Pittsburgh & Conneaut Dock Co. v. Dir., Office of Workers’ Comp. Programs, 473 F.3d 253, 273 (6th Cir. 2007) (Moore, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part) (“[Plaintiff] has cited no authority to support its argument that the use of block billing is contrary to the award of a reasonable attorney fee . . . and, in fact, our sister circuits have rejected block-billing objections to fee awards in a number of contexts.”). Defendants choose the following block-bill by Gupta in connection with the July 9, 2013 extension of the Decree. Chandra argued the motion. Review deposition transcripts of counties and tabulate into chart; prep cocounsel S. Chandra for tomorrow’s oral argument; elaborate on case summaries of termination cases for S. Chandra review; prepare B. Davis declaration and confer with B. Davis re charges; prepare exhibits to declaration and notice of filing; review outline and other potential questions for oral argument. NEOCH, ID# 13744. We find the description of the work performed by Gupta in helping Chandra prepare for oral argument to be more than adequate in the context of this litigation. Nos. 14-4083/ 4084/ Northeast Ohio Coalition, et al. v. Husted, et al. Page 24 4132/ 4133/ 15-3295/ 3296/ 3380/ 3381 preparing legal documents and the like cannot be fully verified and require the court to trust the lawyer’s word that the hours claimed represent necessary work actually performed.” Coulter, 805 F.2d at 150. Here, counsel provided detailed billing records and submitted declarations stating that these discussions also permitted senior lawyers to provide important strategic guidance to more junior lawyers, without duplicating efforts, thereby increasing efficiency. The district court rejected Defendants’ argument that counsel spent too much time “consulting,” crediting the lawyers’ accounts of their time based on the court’s intimate understanding of the complexity of the proceedings before it. Sept. 29, 2014 Op., at 9. “[I]t is not this court’s job to second-guess that judgment.” Gautreaux, 491 F.3d at 661. Again, given Plaintiffs’ detailed documentation, and the district court’s explanation of the award, Defendants’ conclusory “too many hours” allegations do not establish error.