Sloan Valve Co. v. Zurn Indus., Inc., No. 10 C 204, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Aug. 27, 2012) (St. Eve, J.).

Judge St. Eve granted in part plaintiff Sloan’s fee petition based upon the Court’s finding that defendant Zurn had “continually refused to produce relevant documents despite prior court intervention and a clear obligation to do so . . . .”  Here are the highlights:

• Sloan’s counsel’s rates were reasonable, based in part upon the fact that Sloan paid the rates without expectation of indemnification or contribution by any third party.  The rates were between $550 and $735 for partners, $455 to $530 for senior counsel and $310 to $370 for associates.
• Sloan’s 121 hours spent on a motion for sanctions, although it was more complex than the average motion, was not reasonable.  The Court awarded all of the fees for the two most junior attorneys and 20% of the senior attorneys’ fees, citing duplicative and excessive work being done, for a total of approximately $39,000.
• The Court applied the same 80% reduction for senior attorney time spent on Sloan’s renewed motion for sanctions, resulting in a fee award of approximately $51,000.
• The Court struck the most senior attorney’s time for Sloan’s reply brief in support of the renewed motion for sanction resulting in an award of approximately $26,500.
• The Court cut the most senior attorney’s time by 50% for Sloan’s preparation of its response to Zurn’s supplemental submission.  The Court reasoned that many of the tasks could have been performed by a more junior attorney.

The Court’s total award was approximately $140,000.