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CaseIQ

In re Suburban W. Props., LLC

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION

Jan 7, 2014

Judgment

CaseIQ

Timothy A. Barnes

Chapter 11
Honorable Timothy A. Barnes

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW IN SUPPORT OF ORDER
AWARDING TO JOHN H. REDFIELD, ATTORNEYS FOR DEBTOR, FOR ALLOWANCE AND PAYMENT OF INTERIM COMPENSATION AND REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES

TOTAL FEES REQUESTED: $ 42,028.00
TOTAL FEES REDUCED: $ 4,921.00
TOTAL FEES ALLOWED: $ 37,107.00
TOTAL COSTS REQUESTED: $499.70
TOTAL COSTS REDUCED: $ 0.00
TOTAL COSTS ALLOWED: $ 499.70

TOTAL FEES AND COSTS ALLOWED: $ 37,606.70

The attached time and expense entries have been underlined to reflect disallowance in whole or in part. The basis for each disallowance is reflected by numerical notations that appear on the left of each underlined entry. The numerical notations correspond to the enumerated paragraphs below.

(1) Unreasonable Time - TOTAL of disallowed amounts: $ 798.00

The Court denies the allowance in part of compensation for the indicated task(s) since the professional or paraprofessional expended an unreasonable amount of time on the task(s) in light of the nature of the task(s), the experience and knowledge of the professional performing the task(s), and the amount of time previously expended by the professional or another on the task(s). In re Pettibone, 74 B.R. 293, 306 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 1987) ("The Court will determine what is the reasonable amount of time an attorney should have to spend on a given project... An attorney should not be rewarded for inefficiency. Similarly, attorneys will not be fully compensated for spending an unreasonable number of hours on activities of little benefit to the estate."); In re Wildman, 72 B.R. 700, 713 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 1987) (same).

In this case, counsel submitted time entries in amounts of one hour or more with the only description that the time was spent emailing a document. The Court finds these entries to be unreasonable and has reduced the time for each entry to 0.1 hours, resulting in a disallowance of 2.1 hours. (2) Lumping - TOTAL of disallowed amounts (10% of affected entries): $ 513.00

The Court may impose a ten percent penalty on entries that appear to be "lumping." The Court will reduce each entry marked as such per the penalty. In re Wildman, 72 B.R. 700, 709 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 1987) ("Applicants may not circumvent the minimum time requirement or any of the requirements of detail by "lumping" a bunch of activities into a single entry, [citation omitted]. Each type of service should be listed with the corresponding specific time allotment.").

(3) Improper Time Increments for Billing - TOTAL of disallowed amounts: $ 3,610.00

The court may penalize counsel for using improper time increments for billing. "Professional persons . . . cannot, in all honesty and reasonableness, charge their clients for increments in excess of one-tenth of an hour." In re Wildman, 12 B.R. 700, 726 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 1987). This penalty will be imposed where time increments larger than one-tenth of an hour are being used. For example, applicants who bill time using quarter-hour increments risk the ten percent penalty.

In this case, the majority of time entries for drafting of motions and memorandum are presented in half-hour or hour time increments and the majority of time entries for appearances in court are in hour increments. Given the unlikelihood that the time spent drafting and in hearings repeatedly, coincidentally occurred in such increments, the Court concludes that these entries were billed using half-hour or hour increments. As the Court cannot ascertain the extent to which counsel rounded these time entries, the Court has reduced each entry marked as using improper time increments by 0.5 hours to account for such rounding, resulting in a 9.5 hour reduction.

__________

Timothy A. Barnes

United States Bankruptcy Judge

EXHIBIT A

Hours

13.60

$5,168.00

Attorney			Rate	Total
John H. Redfield	- JHR	13.60	$380.00	$5,168.00
Total

06/04/13

06/05/13

06/06/13

06/10/13

06/17/13

06/27/13

07/08/13

07/23/13

07/29/13

08/12/13

08/19/13

08/26/13

09/13/13

09/17/13

09/23/13

DATE	COMMENT	ATTY	HOURS
		transcripts and bankruptcy court orders.	JHR	4.00
		preparation of schedules and contempt case.	JHR	2.50
		real estate.	JHR	0.50
		substitution and notice.	JHR	0.20
		2013 hearing and other matters.	JHR	0.30
		and pre-petition receipts.	JHR	0.40	(2) Lumping
07/03/13	executory.	JHR	0.20
		2013	JHR	0.20
		Email to client re: monthly reports and forms.	JHR	0.20
		Review of monthly operating report.	JHR	0.20
		claim.	JHR	0.20
		Email to client re: monthly report for July 2013.	JHR	0.20
		re: notice of foreclosure sale.	JHR	0.60
		Review of letter from Georgia Dept. of Labor	JHR	0.10
		stay letter to GDOL and phone regarding Baymont.	JHR	0.40
		Email to client re: monthly report.	JHR	0.10
Dept. of Labor re: unemployment tax.	JHR	0.20

10/08/13

11/04/13

13.60

		Review of monthly report and email to client re: quarterly fee.	JHR	0.20	Lumping
10/21/13	Conference with Dave Welch re: background of case and future proceedings.	JHR	0.30
		Telephone conference with UST re: motion to withdraw and telephone conference with client and email to Roman Sukley.	JHR	0.30	Lumping
11/05/13	Court appearance re: motion to withdraw and email to Roman Sukley re: status.	JHR	1.00	Lumping
11/14/13	Telephone conference w/client re: motion to withdraw review of monthly report and prepare for filing.	JHR	0.30	Lumping
11/19/13	Court appearance re: motion to withdraw and email to client re: convert or dismiss.	JHR	1.00	Lumping
Total:

EXHIBIT B

Hours

57.80

$21,964.00

Attorney			Rate	Total
John H. Redfield	- JHR	57.80	$380.00	$21,964.00
Total

06/06/13

06/07/13

06/10/13

06/17/13

06/18/13

06/19/13

06/24/13

06/25/13

06/26/13

06/28/13

DATE	COMMENT	ATTY	HOURS
		state court injunction.	JHR	1.00
		Review of April 18, 2013 transcript.	JHR	0.60
		Research contempt proceeding.	JHR	0.70	Lumping
06/11/13	Drafting of motion for contempt with authorities.	JHR	4.00
		transcript.	JHR	0.50
		withdraw of Levine and fee examinations.	JHR	1.00
		email to client.	JHR	0.30	Lumping
06/21/13	affidavit.	JHR	0.50
		Business.	JHR	0.20
		Telephone conference w/client re: contempt affidavit.	JHR	0.20
		title and affidavit.	JHR	0.20	Lumping
property.	JHR	0.30
		motion for contempt.	JHR	1.00

07/01/13

07/02/13

07/03/13

07/08/13

07/11/13

07/16/13

07/17/13

07/25/13

07/29/13

07/31/13

08/05/13

		Drafting of supplement and affidavit re; motion for contempt	JHR	2.00
		Telephone conference w/client re: damages, turnover complaint, Vorhees documents, etc.	JHR	0.20
		Email to client re: affect of avoidance. Drafting of complaint for turnover.	JHR	0.50
		Drafting of complaint for turnover and avoidance of post-petition transfer	JHR	1.50
		Telephone conference w/client re: franchise agreement, transfers, operations, long term customer	JHR	0.20
		Telephone conference w/client re: status and turnover complaint and lawsuit v. partner.	JHR	1.00 0.20
		Drafting of turnover and avoidance complaint with editing.	JHR	1.00
		Telephone conference w/client re: motion to extend, transcript due on sale and monthly reports.	JHR	0.40
		Telephone conference w/client re: extension, hearing for August 20, 2013 transcript, fiduciary duty breach by Usman.	JHR	0.20 0.30 0.30	Lumping
07/30/13	Telephone conference with Usman's attorney.	JHR	0.20
		Telephone conference w/client re: court, receiver response and other matters.	JHR	0.30
		Review of response of Receiver including numerous exhibits.	JHR	1.00

08/06/13

08/09/13

offer to settle.	JHR	0.60
		Review of transcript (3/1/13) and documents thereto.	JHR	0.70	Lumping
08/08/13	$750,000.	JHR	0.50
		Email to Brennan re: offer to sell details.	JHR	0.40	(3) Improper
08/12/13	Drafting of reply to Receiver's response.	JHR	2.50	increments
08/14/13	Drafting of reply to Receiver's response.	JHR	2.00	(3) Improper increments
08/21/13	Drafting of reply to response of Receiver.	JHR	0.50	(3) Improper increments
08/22/13	Telephone conference w/client re: sanction, response.	JHR JHR	0.30	(3) Improper increments
08/23/13	Drafting of reply to BBB and reply to Macon.	JHR	3.00	increments
08/26/13	Drafting of rely to BBB and reply to Macon.	JHR	increments
08/29/13	Telephone conference w/client re: sur-reply	JHR	0.30	Lumping
09/03/13	contempt, adversary complaint and motion to dismiss.	JHR	1.80	Lumping
09/04/13	dismissal and stay relief and meeting with client.	JHR
09/09/13	Research Reading Wellness case.	JHR	1.50

Review of sanction letter from Kennedy and email to client.

09/23/13

10/02/13

57.80

		JHR	0.30	Lumping
09/10/13	Telephone conference w/client sanctions letter from Beach Business and Macon Group and other matters,	JHR	0.20
		Review of memoranda of Beach and Macon.	JHR	0.40
		Preparation for Court : organizing pleadings and preparing argument.	JHR JHR	1.00 1.00	(3) Improper increments
Total:

EXHIBIT C

Hours

19.40

$7,372.00

Attorney			Rate	Total
John H. Redfield	- JHR	19.40	$380.00	$7,372.00
Total

06/24/13

06/25/13

07/17/13

08/12/13

08/19/13

08/20/13

09/10/13

DATE	COMMENT	ATTY	HOURS
		Telephone conference w/client re: phone call with Baymont regarding turnover of property,	JHR JHR	0.30 0.30
		Drafting of supplement to motion with authority.	JHR JHR	0.30 2.00	(3) Improper increments
07/11/13	Telephone conference w/client re: Baymont reports, records from Vorhies Eevin and turnover	JHR	0,30	(3) Improper increments
07/12/13	Email to client re: damages and franchise	JHR	0.20
		Telephone conference w/client re: Baymont System default by Receiver and cure.	JHR	0.20
		Review of motion for relief by Franchise.	JHR	0.50
		Telephone conference w/client re: reply to Kennedy, response, Macon and motion of Baymont.	JHR	0.30
		Drafting of response to motion.	JHR JHR JHR	1,50 0.30 0.50	(3) Improper increments
08/28/13	Drafting of response to motion to modify;the automatic stay filed by Baymont over paragraph 3.	JHR	3.00	(2)
08/29/13	Email to attorney for Baymont and review of its letter.	JHR	0,30	Lumping
09/09/13	Email to Baymont's attorney re: insurance.	JHR	0.20
		Email re: Baymont motion result and (relief from stay); phone client.	JHR JHR	1.30 0.30	Lumping

10/07/13

10/14/13

10/16/13

Total:

19.40

09/12/13	Drafting of motion to compel Macon to produce insurance and order.	JHR	1.20	(1)
09/18/13	Email motion and order to reconsider stay modification by Baymont.	JHR	1.30	Unreasonable time
09/19/13	Same issue w/ drafting entries.	JHR	1.00	(3) Improper increments
09/24/13	Court appearance re: motion to reconsider and compel insurance.	JHR JHR	0.20 1.00	(3) Improper increments
09/27/13	Email to Baymont re: premature notice and email to client re: Baymont's causes of action.	JHR	0.50
		Telephone conference w/client re: Baymont issue regarding termination letter.	JHR	0.40
		Email to client re: Baymont situation and notice.	JHR	0.30
		Telephone conference w/client re: Baymont situation and condition of hotel	JHR	0.20

EXHIBIT D

Hours

10.80

$4,104.00

Attorney			Rate	Total
John IT. Redfield	- JHR	10.80	$380.00	$4,104.00
Total

08/13/13

08/16/13

08/21/13

09/06/13

09/10/13

10.80

DATE	COMMENT	ATTY	HOURS
		Drafting of response and reviewing 5/15/2013 transcript.	JHR	2.50	(3) Improper increments
08/15/13	Review of motion to dismiss by Macon,	JHR	0.20
		Drafting of response to Macon's motion to dismiss,	JHR	1,00	(3) Improper increments
08/19/13	Review of market analysis done by Hotel's assets.	JHR JHR	0.30
		Drafting of response to motion to dismiss of Macon.	JHR	1.00	(3) Improper increments
08/27/13	Drafting of supplement re: certificate of good standing.	JHR	0.30
		Telephone conference with Francisco Connell re: insurance.	JHR JHR	0.40 3.00
		Drafting of supplemental exhibit to response to motion to dismiss.	JHR JHR	0.30 0.30	Lumping
Total:

EXHIBIT E

Hours

7.00

$2,660.00

Attorney			Rate	Total
John H. Redfield	- JHR	7.00	$380.00	$2,660.00
Total

09/11/13

09/13/13

7.00

DATE	COMMENT	ATTY	HOURS
		Review of Ortiz case on subject matter jurisdiction.	JHR	0.50
		Drafting of memorandum of law re: Ortiz Marshall and wellness	JHR	2.50	(3) Improper increments
09/16/13	Drafting of Brief re: subject matter jurisdiction	JHR	1.00	(3) Improper increments
09/17/13	Drafting of memorandum regarding jurisdiction.	JHR	1.00	(3) Improper increments
09/18/13	Email memorandum of subject matter jurisdiction.	JHR	1.00	Unreasonable time
09/19/13	Drafting of memorandum in support of subject matter jurisdiction.	JHR	1.00	(3) Improper increments
Total:

EXHIBIT F

Hours

2.00

$760.00

Attorney			Rate	Total
John H. Redfield	- JHR	2.00	$380.00	$760.00
Total

2.00

DATE	COMMENT	ATTY	HOURS
11/21/13	Drafting of fee applieation.	JHR	2.00
Total:

EXHIBIT G EXPENSES

6/11/13

Postaqe
		Motion for Contempt Sanctions	$74.32
7/2/13	Supplement to Motion for Contempt	26.28
7/19/13	Complaint and Summons to Macon and Beach Business	26.42
8/21/13	Response to Macon	24.4b
8/22/13	Amended Exhibit 4 to Response to Macon Motion to Dismiss	.66
8/22/13	Reply to Response to Statement of John Flanders Kennedy	1.32
8/26/13	1) Reofv to Macon; and 2) Reply to Beach Business Bank	5.44
9/13/13	Compel Proof of Insurance	.66
9/13/13	Amended Notice of Motion	1.32
9/19/13	Motion to Reconsider	1.32
9/20/13	Memo re; Juris	4.32
10/24/13	Motion to Withdraw	48.16
Total Postage	$210.70

7/19/13

Miscellaneous
		Filinq Fees - Complaint	$293.00
11/21/13	In-house copying (2,890 copies @ $.10/copy)	289.00
Total Miscellaneous	$582.00

Sub Total Expenses:	$792.70
Less expense reimbursement received re filing fee for Adversary Complaint:	($293.00)
TOTAL EXPENSES:	$499.70