A District Court judge in Connecticut has reduced the amount to be awarded in attorney’s fees by 27% to a plaintiff who won a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act lawsuit against a collection law firm that listed two different amounts owed in a collection letter that was found to be materially misleading.
A copy of the ruling in the case of Garcia v. Law Offices of Howard Lee Schiff can be accessed by clicking here.
The plaintiff sued after receiving a collection letter that included two different amounts owed. The defendant attempted to use the bona fide error defense under the FDCPA, but a judge ruled that under the strict liability of the FDCPA, a least sophisticated consumer might have been confused by the letter and ruled in favor of the defendant. The judge awarded $500 in statutory damages. The plaintiff was seeking $67,707.50 in attorney’s fees, but the judge reduced that amount to $50.085, largely by lowering the hourly rate that the plaintiff’s attorneys should be paid.
The plaintiff’s attorneys — Yaakov Saks, Rachel Drake, and Raphael Deutsch — had been seeking hourly rates of $400, $350, and $350, respectively. The defendant argued that the attorneys should be awarded hourly rates of $200, and $150 and that Deutsch should not be compensated at all.
Judge Victor Bolden of the District Court for the District of Connecticut somewhat split the difference, awarding $300 per hour for Saks and $200 per hour for Drake and Deutsch.
Another plaintiff’s attorney, who has 45 years of experience, was awarded $400 per hour in a case in 2016, and Judge Bolden determined that Saks, who has nine years of experience, should receive $300 per hour.
