Loughner v. The University of Pittsburgh

This appeal raises a troublesome and recurring problem
pertaining to the award of attorneys' fees and costs to a
prevailing party under a federal statute and the duty of a
district court in dealing with the prevailing party's petition
for fees. Catherine M. Loughner ("Loughner") brought an
action under, inter alia, the Fair Labor Standards Act
("FLSA"), against The University of Pittsbur gh ("University")
and the Presbyterian University Hospital ("Hospital"),1 for
payment of unpaid wages and overtime compensation due
her on the termination of her employment. Specifically, she
claimed $3,169.28 in "base pay" unpaid wages and
$25,218.06 in overtime pay pursuant to federal and
Pennsylvania law. On the eve of trial the parties, stipulating
that Loughner was the prevailing party, settled all claims,
including overtime wages, liquidated damages, and interest,
for $27,000.

The District Court granted Loughner's counsel almost all
of the hours and costs requested in his petitions, but at a
lower hourly rate. In all, the Court reduced the amount of
$118,725.00 claimed for attorneys' fees and awarded
Loughner's counsel $88,655 in fees and $2,875.56 in costs.
The Defendants timely appealed.

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Click the case caption above for the full text of the Court's opinion.

We vacate the award and
remand.

Unknown

Unknown

The award of attorneys' fees in this case was authorized
under the Fair Labor Standards Act, which provides "a
reasonable attorney's fee to be paid by the Defendant, and
costs of the action" to a prevailing plaintiff. See 29 U.S.C. S 216(b). In cases like this, courts use the "lodestar" formula, which requires multiplying the number of hours reasonably expended by a reasonable hourly rate. See Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424 (1983); Pennsylvania v. Delaware Valley Citizens' Council for Clean Air, 478 U.S. 546 (1986); Pennsylvania Environ. Def., 152 F .3d at 232. "When the applicant for a fee has carried his burden of showing that the claimed rates and number of hours are r easonable, the resulting product is presumed to be the reasonable fee to which counsel is entitled." Delaware V alley Citizens' Council, 478 U.S. at 564 (internal quotation omitted).