New York Youth Club v. Town of Harrison, 7:12-cv-07534

Plaintiffs (New York Youth Club, Miguel B., Kelvonte C.) challenged a Town of Harrison ordinance (Chapter 183) regulating door-to-door solicitation as violating the First Amendment; summary judgment held the statute unconstitutional as to the fingerprinting provision.
Plaintiffs sought damages, attorneys’ fees, and costs under 42 U.S.C. § 1988 after prevailing in part; counsel was Kase & Druker (Paula Frome and Scott M. Druker).
Plaintiffs requested $62,856 in damages, $77,925 in attorneys’ fees, and $1,222.95 in costs; defendants opposed, arguing damages were speculative and fee records/rates were unreasonable.
The Court evaluated reasonableness of hourly rates and hours under the lodestar framework, reviewing contemporaneous records, vagueness, block-billing, clerical tasks, travel, and excessive research time.
On damages, Plaintiffs offered affidavits but limited documentary proof of lost profits and did not establish losses outside Harrison; youths’ claims for $10,000 each (lost “points”/trips) lacked evidentiary support.
Judgment awarded attorneys’ fees and costs to plaintiffs’ counsel in the reduced total of $42,125.45, compensatory damages of $100 each to Miguel B. and Kelvonte C., and nominal $1 to NYYC.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Entitlement to § 1988 fees	Plaintiffs prevailed and thus seek fees	No dispute on prevailing status; dispute over amount and reasonableness	Plaintiffs entitled to fees; court applied lodestar with reductions
Reasonable hourly rates	Frome $450/hr; Druker $375/hr	Rates too high; propose $250/hr	Frome awarded $375/hr; Druker $275/hr
Hours billed / record sufficiency	Counsel submitted summaries and later some contemporaneous records	Records not contemporaneous, vague, block-billed, excessive, included clerical time and travel	Reduced hours for Druker, 25% cut for Frome for vagueness, deducted clerical hours, trimmed excessive research and fee-application time
Damages for First Amendment violation	NYYC and youths seek lost profits, future loss offset, and $10,000 each for civil-rights injury	Damages speculative, lack documentary support, do not account for sales elsewhere	NYYC awarded $1 nominal; youths awarded $100 each; compensatory and future-loss requests denied as speculative

Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424 (fee applicant who prevails may recover reasonable attorneys’ fees)
Arbor Hill Concerned Citizens Neighborhood Ass’n v. County of Albany, 522 F.3d 182 (2d Cir. 2007) (district court must consider case-specific factors in setting reasonable fee)
Barfield v. New York City Health & Hosps. Corp., 537 F.3d 132 (2d Cir. 2008) (degree of success is critical in fee determination)
N.Y. State Ass’n for Retarded Children, Inc. v. Carey, 711 F.2d 1136 (2d Cir. 1983) (requirement of contemporaneous time records for fee applications)
Kirsch v. Fleet St., Ltd., 148 F.3d 149 (2d Cir. 1998) (courts may trim fat and reduce fees for vague or excessive entries)
Irish Lesbian & Gay Org. v. Giuliani, 143 F.3d 638 (2d Cir. 1998) (denial of opportunity to express views can be compensable injury)
Memphis Community School District v. Stachura, 477 U.S. 299 (2006) (compensatory damages for constitutional violations require proof of actual injury)