Opinion ID: 2515085
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Challenges to the Amount of Attorney's Fees and Costs Awarded by the Circuit Court

Text: Superferry contends that the circuit court erred in awarding Sierra Club attorney's fees at the rate of $200 per hour, and awarding costs in the amount of $5,442.44. On the other hand, Sierra Club contends that the circuit court erred by (1) not awarding attorney's fees and costs for the period of litigation prior to the initial appeal to this court; (2) not considering or giving weight to documents presented by Sierra Club on the issue of whether DOT and Superferry relied in good faith as required by HRS ง 607-25(e)(3); and (3) not awarding attorney's fees at the rate of $300 per hour. We resolve these issues as follows. 1. The circuit court's award of attorney's fees and costs is reviewed under the abuse of discretion standard. The circuit court did not abuse its discretion when it awarded Sierra Club attorney's fees at counsel's regular rate of $200 per hour. The fact that counsel provided Sierra Club, as a non-profit or unincorporated environmental organization[], with a discounted hourly rate of $190 and gave additional discounts over the course of the litigation did not make the court's award unreasonable, particularly when counsel was seeking an enhanced fee of $300 per hour based upon the test for enhancement of fees established in Schefke v. Reliable Collection Agency, Ltd., 96 Hawai'i 408, 452-54, 32 P.3d 52, 96-98 (2001) (providing that to enhance the lodestar amount trial courts must determine: (1) whether an attorney has taken a case on a contingent basis, ... (2) whether the attorney has been able to mitigate the risk of nonpayment in any way, ... and (3) whether other factors besides the risk of nonpayment also justify enhancement. (Internal citations, quotation marks, and brackets removed.)). 2. The circuit court did not abuse its discretion in awarding costs of $5,442.44 against DOT and Superferry jointly. As the prevailing party, Sierra Club was entitled to an award of all costs pursuant to Hawai'i Rules of Civil Procedure (HRCP) Rule 54(d)(1) [31] and HRS ง 607-24. [32] However, as Sierra Club does not oppose the exclusion of $910.35 in costs that Superferry challenges as costs related to the operation of a law practice, we reduce the amount of costs awarded from $5,442.44 to $4,532.09. 3. The circuit court did not abuse its discretion in (a) not awarding Sierra Club attorney's fees and costs for the period of litigation prior to the initial appeal to this court; (b) not considering or giving weight to documents presented by Sierra Club on the issue of whether DOT and Superferry relied in good faith as required by HRS ง 607-25(e)(3), and (c) not awarding attorney's fees to Sierra Club at the rate of $300 per hour.