22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 947b
Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2208GETIInsurance — Personal injury protection — Attorney’s fees — Amount — Hours — Time spent preparing pleadings that were simultaneously filed in multiple PIP cases is prorated across cases — Expert witness fees and costs awarded
INTERVENTIONAL SPINE CENTER, LLC, a/a/o George Etienne, Plaintiff, vs. GEICO GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant. County Court, 11th Judicial Circuit in and for Miami-Dade County. Case No. 2014-1817SP23. February 6, 2015. Spencer Multack, Judge.
FINAL JUDGMENT AWARDING ATTORNEYS’ FEES and COSTS FINAL JUDGMENT IN FAVOR OFPLAINTIFF, INTERVENTIONAL SPINE CENTER
The Plaintiff’s Motion for Attorneys’ fees and Costs was heard on January 27, 2015 at the North Dade Justice Center before Judge Spencer Multack. The Court received testimony and argument of Plaintiff’s counsel, Sagi Shaked, Esq., his expert witness, Kenneth Dorchak, Esq., Defendant’s counsel Michael Hughes, Esq., and his expert witness, Scott Dutton, Esq, and after reviewing the applicable time sheets, legal authority, and being otherwise fully advised as to the motion:
IT IS ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that:
1. Pursuant to a Confession of Judgment entered by the parties on January 30, 2015, this Court hereby directs Judgment in favor of the Plaintiff.
2. Pursuant to the same Confession of Judgment entered into by the parties, the Defendant, GEICO GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY, shall pay to Plaintiff’s law firm, SHAKED LAW FIRM, P.A., reasonable attorneys’ fees for legal services rendered to the Plaintiff INTERVENTIONAL SPINE CENTER. See Ch. 627.428(1).
3. Hourly Rate: The Court received evidence that Mr. Shaked has been practicing law for fifteen years and is board certified in civil trial law by the Florida Bar. He graduated with honors from Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center. He is the managing partner of his law firm and has operated a successful practice for over a decade. Mr. Shaked practices as a plaintiff’s lawyer, assuming risk in each case handled. He was named a “Super Lawyer — Rising Star” in 2009.
The Court received expert testimony from Mr. Dorchak and Mr. Sutton with regard to Mr. Shaked’s hourly rate. Mr. Dorchak opined that Mr. Shaked’s time is worth between $425 and $450 per hour. Mr. Sutton opined Mr. Shaked’s rate between $180 and $350 per hour. As part of this analysis, the Court reviewed submitted orders from other courts awarding fees in similar “PIP” cases.
Mr. Shaked’s work on this case was on a contingency fee basis. The Court has taken into consideration the fact that an attorney working under a contingent fee contract receives no compensation when his client does not prevail. This is why he must charge a client more than the attorney who is guaranteed remuneration for his services. Western and Southern Life Insurance v. Beebe, 61 So.3d 1215 (Fla. 3rd DCA 2011) [36 Fla. L. Weekly D1082a].
Additionally, an associate attorney, Andrew Sky, was utilized to attend a pre-trial conference for the Shaked Law Firm, P.A. on March 10, 2014. Mr. Sky has been a member of the bar since 2012. Based upon the evidence presented at the hearing, the submitted material reviewed in chambers, and review of the authority in Florida Patient’s Comp Fund v. Rowe, 472 So.2d 1145 (Fla. 1985) and Smith v. School Bd. Of Palm Beach County, 981 So.2d 6 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007) [32 Fla. L. Weekly D2791a];
This Court awards Mr. Shaked $425.00 per hour for his representation of the Plaintiff in this matter, and
This Court awards Mr. Sky $200.00 per hour for his representation of the Plaintiff in this matter.
4. Reasonable Number of Hours: Mr. Shaked’s initial timesheet reflected approximately 40 hours of work performed on the case before this Court. This number was significantly lowered by the Plaintiff’s expert, Mr. Dorchak, to 24.75 hours. The expert for the Defendant further reduced the number of reasonable hours to a range as low as 11.75 hours. A point of contention during the hearing was that the research pertaining to this case (NCCI edits), and preparation of the motion for summary judgment, straddled a number of other cases1 “NCCI cases” Mr. Shaked was prosecuting contemporaneously as the case sub judice.
One of the factors the Court must consider is the time and labor required, the novelty and difficulty of the question involved, and the skill requisite to perform the legal service properly. Rowe. As stated, Mr. Shaked researched and prepared motions for summary judgment2 on at least seven NCCI cases pending contemporaneously with this case. Upon review, the motions for summary judgment are identical to each other and identical to the memorandum of law filed in 2014-9962SP23. In evaluating the case before this Court, it is impossible to determine which case was researched first and which motion for summary judgment was filed first, as five3 identical motions were submitted on the same day (August 18, 2014.)
A review of the time sheets corresponding to the NCCI cases revealed that Mr. Shaked billed approximately the same amount of hours for the research and preparation of the motions for summary judgment on the respective cases (4.7 for research and 3.5 for motion preparation.) The Court believes that the amount of time spent researching and preparing the motions for summary judgment should be prorated across Mr. Shaked’s NCCI cases, including this case. The Court simply finds it unreasonable to bill the same amount of hours per case to produce duplicative work. This point was admirably conceded by Mr. Shaked during the hearing. In calculating the reasonable number of hours billed, the Court is taking into consideration that Mr. Shaked will be rewarded in a prorated fashion for the research and motion preparation in the NCCI cases where fees have yet to be determined.
The Court has taken the above evidence, authority, and factors as outlined in Rowe into account when determining Mr. Shaked’s fee. Having also considered the factors in Fla Bar Rule 4-1.5, this Court finds the reasonable number of hours for legal services rendered by Sagi Shaked, Esq. to Interventional Spine Center to be 19 hours.
This Court finds the reasonable number of hours for legal services rendered by Andrew Sky, Esq. to Interventional Spine Center to be 1.5 hours.
5. Expert Fees: In addition to the foregoing, the Court finds that the Plaintiff is entitled to an award of a reasonable fee for the services rendered by their expert witness, Kenneth Dorchak, Esq., in the amount of $2,640, based on a reasonable hourly rate of $480 and a reasonable amount of time of 5.5 hours. Mr. Dorchak’s and Mr. Dutton’s expertise and opinions offered on the question of reasonable rates applicable to the attorneys involved with this litigation, and their opinions as to issues surrounding these cases, were very helpful to the Court. Their expert opinions were also very helpful to the Court in analyzing the subject litigation in terms of the twelve elements outlined in the Florida Rules of Professional Conduct, 4-1.5(b)(1)(A)-(H).
Therefore, the Plaintiff’s motion for Attorney’s Fees is GRANTED. Defendant, GEICO GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY, upon the confession of judgment entered in this case, shall pay to the Shaked Law Firm, PA as follows:
| Sagi Shaked, Esq. (425.00 x 19) | $8075.00 |
| Andrew Sky, Esq. (200 x 1.5) | $300.00 |
| Kenneth Dorchak (Expert) (480.00 x 5.5) | $2640.00 |
| Costs | $200.00 |
| TOTAL | $11,215.00 |
The awarded fees and costs shall bear interest at the rate of 4.75% per annum until paid in full from January 30, 2015.
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114-3061SP23 (Carol Scotland), 14-2773SP23 (Leroy Campbell), 14-2915SP23(Glenford Stobbs), 14-7514SP23 (Natasha Senat), 14-2665SP23 (Valeria Kapalko), 14-9962SP23 (Melissa Lagos)
2It seems the legal position averred by Mr. Shaked had some impact on the litigation as all of the cases have been resolved in favor of the Plaintiffs.
314-2665SP23, 14-7514SP23, 14-2773SP23, 14-3061SP23, 14-1817SP23
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