Opinion ID: 2403365
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 28

Heading: Pretrial and trial related fees and expenses

Text: On May 12, 2009, ClearOne filed a motion for award of attorneys' fees and related nontaxable expenses. The motion asserted that, because the jury found that the WideBand defendants' misappropriation of trade secrets was willful and malicious, Utah law authorized an award of fees and nontaxable expenses in favor of ClearOne. In support of the motion, ClearOne submitted a declaration from its lead attorney, along with over 1400 pages of exhibits. Notably, Biamp was the only defendant to respond to ClearOne's motion. On December 30, 2009, the magistrate judge issued a memorandum order and decision granting in part ClearOne's motion. The memorandum order concluded that (a) all of the defendants were jointly and severally liable to ClearOne for the sum of $983,879.90 in fees and nontaxable expenses, (b) Biamp was liable to Clear-One for the sum of $118,025.00 in fees and nontaxable expenses, and (c) the Wide-Band defendants were jointly and severally liable to ClearOne for the sum of $907,645.87 in fees and nontaxable expenses. Together, these fee and expense awards totaled $2,009,550.33. On January 14, 2010, the WideBand defendants filed an objection to the magistrate judge's memorandum order and decision. Therein, the WideBand defendants first complained that when ClearOne's motion was filed, they were proceeding pro se and thus did not have access to the sealed declarations submitted by ClearOne's counsel. The remainder of the objection was worded in similar fashion to the portion of the WideBand defendants' appellate brief regarding the fee and expense issue. Ultimately, the WideBand defendants argued in their objection that ClearOne's fee and expense request should be reduced by at least thirty-three percent . . . or, in the alternative, a hearing should be set, and the Defendants afforded an opportunity to be heard regarding these amounts. JA at D22652.