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(Med) Gee IN THE TERRITORIAL COURT OF THE VIRGIN 1:..\008 DIVISION OF ST. CROIX AT CHRISTIANS» » ISLAND TELERADIO SERVICE, INc., Plaintiff : CIVIL NO. 2593/1979 ACTION FOR biiw CARL L. GREEN , Defendant MEMORANDUM OPINION AND SUPPLEMENTAL Ohitie VICTOR G. SCHNEIDER, ESQ. Attorney for Plaintiff 8A Ross Estate St. Thomas, Virgin Islands IRWIN J. SILVERLIGHT, JUDGE Pursuant to the dictates of Francois v. Francois, et ols., VI F.2d _s (CA 3rd, 1979), I here reduce to wriciin; the facts determined and reasoning applied in making an award o: uttorney's fees in this default case. Defendant allegedly delivered to Plaintiff two cliecks in the sums of $2,000.00 and $1,691.89, respectively, for services rendered, both of which, upon presentation were revturned unpuia because of insurrieient Funds. Plaintiff thereupon brougnt thos action for debt, caused process to be served upon vefendant, who failed to answer, appear or otherwise defend with 1. tho presuo lk. time. A motion for the entry of default Smitten Followed. such judgment was entered by the Clerk on June 28, 1974, pussuant to Rule 55(b) (1) FP.R.C.P.) The matter was then referred to the writ for an award of attorney's ‘tees and costs in réspense to couse Island Teleradio v. Green Memorandum Opinion and Supplemental Order Page Two request therefor. Counsel's affidavit in re attorney's fees is less than in- formative. In substance, it states only that counsel accepted the matter on a contingent fee basis of one-third of any judgment entered; that-judgment was entered in the amount of $3,858.03, and that a counsel fee of $1,286.00 is requested. It is obvious that counsel has either forgotten the teachings of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Lucerne Investment Co. v. Estate Belvedere, Inco 1 VI 242, 411 F.2a 1205 (1969); Estien v. Christian, 11 VI 464, 307 F.2d 61 (1975); Lindy Bros. Bldrs., Inc. of Phila. v. American R&S San. Corp., 487 F.2d 161 (1973); and Francois, supra, o: ' has simply ignored them. The pertinent facts required by the Court to constitute a - basis for an award of attorney's fees are: (1) How many hours were spent by counsel in the perfor- mance of his service, and in what manner; (2) The normal billing rate Charged. by counsel; (3) The contingent nature of success; and (4) The quality of the attorney's work in relation to the complexity of the services. None of this basic material has been Supplied by counsel. The Court, however, in the circumstances here present (a default case), will evaluate the matter by examination of the court file. I_- THE WORK PERFORMED The file discloses that counsel has prepared and filed a summons and complaint, a motion for defauit judgment, and an affi- davit in support thereof, a pleading entitled, "Entry of Default" 7 —————— —— — — em ere ees ee ee eee —— Island Teleradio v. Green Memorandum Opinion and Supplemental Order Page Three and a Judgment by the Cierk*= gin addition, in Support of his re- quest for attorney's fees, he has prepared and filed an "Affidavit in re pee uae Fee" and a verified Bill Of Costs. None of these 7 pleadings are complex nor did. the preparation of any of them re- quire anything more than minimal skill. By no stretch of the imagination can this Court conclude that more than two hours were | expended in the preparation of these pleadings, including the Ltgis reasonable to assume that collection of the judgment will necessitate the preparation of a Writ of Execution and, Possibly, a notice of Marshal's sale. Certainly, the assignment of one hour to these tasks is more than generous. II — THE NORMAL BILLING RATE Although no Specific normal billing rate has been Ssuppli.d by counsel, the Court is aware that the Standard fee in the com munity at this time ranges from a low of $50.00 per hour toa high of $100.00 per none This Court concludes that the mesne rate of $75.00 per hour represents a fair and equitable charge in this instance. iif ~ THE CONTINGENT NATURE OF SUCCESS This is a "bad check" case which poses no difficult legal a problems. ‘the defenses available to the defendant were extremely Oo ee rane ae pee ees eee ae limited or non-existent. No one can seriously argue that the lh There are numerous cases in which higher hourly fees are charged in this community, but not in Cases such as this. 0 Ee eee ne teh ade ee — Island Teleradio v. Green Memorandum Opinion and Supplemental Order Page Four likelihood of success in this litigation was less than nearly absolute. IV - THE QUALITY OF THE woRK As has been stated, supra, the lack of complexity in this case, coupled with the nature of the pleadings filed do not give rise to a need to increase or decrease the fee to be awarded. In this case, the "lodestar" represents adequate compensation. This is true, notwithstanding the contingent fee agreement pur- suant to which counsel accepted this matter. It must be remem-— bered that "[T]he amount of attorney's fees to be awarded to the prevailing party is ... intended to be an indemnification of tne prevailing party for a fair and reasonable portion of his attoc- ney's fees incurred in the prosecution or defense of the action, and not for the whole amount charged by the attorney ..." Lucerne, supra. The foregoing analysis establishes that the lodestar in this case may be ascertained by multiplication of three hours times an hourly rate of $75.00. This computes to $225.00 which I find to be a reasonable attorney's fee. In addition, Plaintiff is entitled to recover costs in the sum of $15.00 (5 vie 541). ! Done at Christiansted, St. Croix, this 7th day of August, | . 197,99 (LEN tN N eC NSS Irwin\J. Silvérlight, Judge 1 1 “J f 2/ Estien v. Christian, supra, at 467, 468.