Opinion ID: 399337
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: risk and quality

Text: 56 The third and final step in the analysis of determining an award of reasonable attorneys' fees is to evaluate the eight guidelines listed in Waters, supra, 502 F.2d at 1322, which in some cases may require an adjustment, upward or downward, of the basic fee of hours times hourly rate. In this case, the district court adjusted the basic fee awarded to the plaintiffs upward, to allow an extra $50,000 for risk and $200,000 for quality of representation. Both the plaintiffs and the defendant challenge this extra award as an abuse of the trial court's discretion, the plaintiffs claiming that the award is low, and the defendant claiming that the award is high. 57 The district court explained in detail its reasons for granting this extra award above the basic fee. First, the court noted that the plaintiffs' attorneys worked for seven years without compensation. Their fees were contingent on the outcome of the litigation. They invested over 11,000 hours, plus expenses, in this risk. They faced a long and difficult battle against equally talented attorneys for the defendant, no ground was surrendered without a struggle, and Uniroyal litigated each issue in this case until the debarment proceeding commanded a final settlement. Chrapliwy, supra, 509 F.Supp. at 460. Fifty thousand dollars to account for the risks involved in representing the plaintiffs on a contingent basis in a complex class action is a modest, if not meager, award. 58 The plaintiffs claim that the risks were substantially greater than the district court recognized, while the defendant claims that the plaintiffs faced relatively no risks after the initial summary judgment in July of 1973. The allowance of $50,000 for risk reflects the district court's careful evaluation of the facts, and though the allowance is meager, we cannot say the district court abused its discretion in fixing the amount. 59 Second, in awarding $200,000 for quality, the court found that the plaintiffs' attorneys brought to this litigation experience, reputation, and ability in handling complex cases, particularly the ability to handle Title VII cases. The court determined that the results obtained for the plaintiffs, after years of opposing the talented, nationally recognized law firms representing the defendant, demonstrated these abilities. Indeed the total recovery was substantial, some $9,000,000, cash in part and value of benefits in part, as well as reinstatement of nearly 300 employees. The court also noted that one of the results obtained was that the actions of the plaintiffs' attorneys forced the Labor Department to create a working enforcement system to implement Executive Order 11246, and police other federal contractors in their compliance with its procedures. Chrapliwy, supra, 509 F.Supp. at 462. 60 The district court's consideration of quality was appropriate, and the court carefully evaluated its reasons for allowing the extra $200,000 for quality. However, we have determined that the plaintiffs should be awarded a basic fee which reflects the requested hourly rates of each attorney. The hourly rates for the plaintiffs' out of town counsel are higher than rates charged by attorneys in the South Bend area. The reason for allowing the higher rates is that the nature of the case commanded the expertise of attorneys with specialized skills in handling complex litigation and Title VII cases. These experts charge higher fees than local attorneys because of the quality of representation they provide in their area of expertise. Thus, the hourly rates to be allowed by the district court on remand of this case seem to include some of the elements considered in the court's quality award, so that the $200,000 awarded by the district court for quality may overlap with the quality factor implicit in the hourly rates. 61 Furthermore, we have determined that the plaintiffs are to be awarded attorneys' fees for their efforts in persuading the government to debar the defendant from its federal contracts. The district court seems to have included something for these efforts in the award for quality. The district court should determine on remand whether there is any duplication. 62 As a result of these possible overlaps, we direct that on remand the court should, if it finds unfair duplication in the award for quality, make an appropriate adjustment.