Attorney's Fees Forum

[Hipster but Athletic]

They never teach us how to calculate lawyer's fees in law school. At least not in any of the classes I've taken.
Say you're a plaintiff, you bring two separate and potentially cumulative theories of recovery, you win one lose one... and the one you win gives you the right to reasonable attorney's fees. Do you get time for the whole case or do you have to disaggregate the time you spent losing the other cause?

[A. Nony Mouse]

AFAIK, you'd have to submit a bill of costs to the court, and yes, you would only recover for the time/work spent on the winning claim. For instance, people often shoehorn 1983 claims into cases involving state tort claims because 1983 awards attorney's fees and the state claims usually don't. If you win the 1983 but not the tort claim (or I guess even if you do win the tort claim) you would only get attorney's fees relating to the 1983 claim. This frequently leads to more litigation as people fight over what work actually went to what claim. I'm sure there are times where almost all the work goes to all the claims, but you'd have to show that.

Again, this is my understanding, but it's pretty general. I'm sure I'm missing nuance.

[Nelson]

A. Nony is right. The majority of cases result in an award of fees per hour put in times an hourly rate calculated based on a reasonable rate charged by attorneys in that area for that type of work (the lodestar). If you get lodestar fees, you normally only get fees for time spent on a winning claim. However, at the court's discretion, you can then get additional multipliers added to your lodestar fee or a reduction in your fee if the judge thinks your time input was unreasonable.

For some aggregate litigation, courts now just award the plaintiffs attorneys a fraction of the settlement fund, usually 30% or so. This avoids the litigation over the reasonableness of the lodestar.

You would probably cover this stuff in con lit, civ pro II, or a complex lit class, something like that, depending on your school.

[Hipster but Athletic]

Word. Thanks