Opinion ID: 8312766
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Straightforward Nature of the Case

Text: Defendant generally argues that Plaintiff's fee request should be significantly reduced to reflect the straightforward nature of the proceedings. Defendant highlights that the matter was resolved in less than five months, involved only 153 pages of records, and required nothing more than periodic status reports. Def.'s Opp'n, ECF No. 27, 16-17. In support of his argument that Plaintiff's fee request should be generally reduced, Defendant cites Cornucopia Institute . In that case, the district court reduced the fee award after concluding that the merits themselves were resolved quickly in a straightforward manner, with no need for additional briefing. Cornucopia Institute , 285 F.Supp.3d at 227 . But, Cornucopia Institute is distinguishable from the case before the Court. There, the court found the fee demand unreasonable, in large part, because an undue portion of it derives from time billed for litigating and mediating the amount of attorneys' fees, rather than the merits of the underlying FOIA action. Id. The Court determined that work on fee matters accounted for approximately 70% of the total fee request. Id. In contrast, here, Plaintiff requests a total of 5.7 hours for work involving fees and is approximately 10% of Plaintiff's total fee request. Accordingly, the main issue in Cornucopia Institute , that work on fee matters accounted for a disproportionate amount of the time billed, is not at issue here. Because Defendant's primary support for a general reduction in attorneys' fees, Cornucopia Institute , is distinguishable, the Court will proceed to Defendant's other, specific arguments.