Opinion ID: 398608
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Huey Mitchell's Fees

Text: 41 Mitchell requested $72,135.20 in fees; the trial court awarded $21,980.50. In arriving at this amount the trial court obviously considered the Johnson criteria. Mitchell's fee petition presented a particular problem. His fee request was not documented properly. It did not show that the fees were for services that benefited the class, a requirement necessarily imposed on class counsel. Services rendered for the individual claims of named plaintiffs or claims against the unions, all of which were severed and are pending, could not be compensated from funds belonging to the class. Further, Mitchell's petition was vague and unclear. Even after he was given an opportunity to revise and clarify his petition, Mitchell failed to state how many hours he contended were compensable under the directives imposed by the trial court on all of the class attorneys. Following Mitchell's failure to adduce a definitive petition, the trial court gleaned the record and found 344 hours to be compensable. Mitchell was awarded sixty-five dollars per hour for his services. The time for the other associates in Mitchell's firm was compensated at five dollars per hour, since the court concluded that these services were performed by clerks. 42 Under these circumstances, an affirmance is mandated. As we held in Carr v. Blazer Financial Services, Inc., 598 F.2d 1368, 1371 (5th Cir. 1979): 43 The burden rests on the party seeking an attorney's fee award to file a fee application and proffer proof going to the Johnson guidelines before the trial court. While a trial court should adhere to the Johnson standards, it is not to be expected, as plaintiff suggests, that the trial court must take the initiative in ferreting out the relevant facts. 44 The burden placed on the trial court by the inadequate submission was recognized by Mitchell in his testimony at the settlement hearing. Mitchell conceded that no one could determine definitively how much time he had spent on behalf of the class by reviewing the submissions he made in his fee petition. We can do no better job than the trial judge. Indeed, he is in a superior position to judge a fair fee award. He presided over this case, observing the performance of counsel. In this instance, with an admittedly inadequate record, we are doubly chary of rejecting the trial court's findings. We discern no abuse of discretion. 45 The judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED in all respects.