Opinion ID: 397893
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: excessiveness of damages against the union.

Text: 56 The district court awarded $39,368.75 in attorney's fees against the Union. At a hearing conducted after the jury had returned its verdict, Seymour's attorney introduced evidence that he had performed 423.75 hours of out-of-court work and 25 hours in court in connection with this case. Seymour's attorney produced two expert witnesses, one of whom testified that a reasonable attorney's fee would be $60,000 and the other set $50,000 as a fair award. The Union did not produce any expert witnesses of its own, but merely cross-examined Seymour's experts. 57 The Union now contends that the district court's award of attorney's fees was excessive as a matter of law. The Union argues that by no stretch of the imagination could a lawyer spend so much time on this case, but it introduced no evidence at the hearing to support this contention. 58 When reviewing awards of attorney's fees, this court will not disturb an award unless there is a clear showing that the (award) is excessive as a matter of law. Anderson v. Eagle Motor Lines, Inc., 423 F.2d 81, 85 (5th Cir. 1970), quoted with approval in Del Casal v. Eastern Airlines, Inc., 634 F.2d 295, 302 (5th Cir. 1981), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 101 S.Ct. 3027, 69 L.Ed.2d 403 (1981) (award of $35,000 in connection with claim of breach of duty of fair representation is not excessive). The Union made no showing in this case that the award was excessive. The district court expressly and carefully considered the factors outlined in Johnson v. Georgia Highway Express, Inc., 488 F.2d 714 (5th Cir. 1974), for awarding attorney's fees. Therefore, we must reject the suggestion that the award of attorney's fees in this case was improper or excessive. 59