MEMORANDUM OPINION
The present case arises from a request for records that the plaintiff, the American Civil Liberties Union (“ACLU”), submitted to the defendants, the Department of Homeland Security (the “Department”) and several of its component divisions— the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (“Civil Rights Office”), the Office of Inspector General (“OIG”), and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”), pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 552 (2006). Complaint (“Compl.”) ¶ 1. Not satisfied with the defendants’ production of records responsive to its request, the plaintiff filed its Complaint in this Court.
See id.
The parties then filed cross-motions for summary judgment, which the Court granted in part and denied in part.
ACLU v. U.S. Dep’t of Homeland Security,
I. BACKGROUND
On June 27, 2007, the plaintiff submitted a FOIA request to the Department, “seeking, inter alia, records pertaining to the deaths of immigrants [while] in [the Department’s] custody.” Compl. ¶ 2. According to the plaintiff, “[s]everal of these deaths had been attributed to deficient medical care provided to those detainees despite the Government’s duty to supply adequate medical care and treatment to them,” and the OIG subsequently found “serious problems with the delivery of health care at four [out] of five detention faсilities reviewed.” Id. ¶ 3. Because the plaintiff perceived an “ongoing risk of death or serious bodily injury to the hundreds of thousands of people detained by ICE each year,” and that the public had “[an] urgent need to be informed of the federal government’s activities in this area,” the plaintiff sought expedited processing of its request pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(E) and the applicable regulations. Id. ¶ 4. On July 11, 2007, the Department acknowledged receipt of the request, denied the plaintiffs request for expedited processing, and referred the request to the OIG and ICE. Defs.’ Opp’n, Exhibit (“Ex.”) 1 (Declaration of Katherine R. Gallo (“Gallo Decl.”)) ¶¶ 5-6; Compl., Ex. 2 (July 11, 2007 letter from Vania T. Lockett to Tom Jawetz) at 2-3.
I. The OIG’s Response
The OIG acknowledged receipt of the plаintiffs FOIA request on July 18, 2007, and denied the plaintiffs request for expedited processing because, inter alia, it had failed to “adequately demonstrate[ ] a particular urgency to inform the public regarding the subject matter of [its] request.” Compl., Ex. 4 (July 18, 2007 letter from Katherine R. Gallo to Tom Jawetz) at 1. On November 5, 2007, the plaintiff sent a letter to the OIG seeking reconsideration of the OIG’s refusal to grant expedited processing. Compl., Ex. 8 (November 5, 2007 letter from Tom Jawetz to Nikki Gramian) at 1. The OIG did not act on the letter because it interpreted the plaintiffs letter as “an appeal,” which “should have been directed to” the Associate General Counsel for General Law at the Department. Id., Ex. 24 (December 7, 2007 email from Nikki Gramian to Tom Jawetz) аt 1. The plaintiff then lodged an appeal with the Associate General Counsel, id., Ex. 26 (December 7, 2007 letter from Tom Jawetz to the Associate General Counsel (General Law), Department of Homeland Security) at 1, which was denied on January 4, 2008, because the request was filed “well past the 60[-]day filing requirement” under 6 C.F.R. § 5.9(a), id., Ex. 27 (January 4, 2008 letter from Victoria Newhouse to Tom Jawetz) at 1.
On May 5, 2008, the plaintiff once again requested that the OIG reconsider its denial of expedited processing. Defs.’ Opp’n, Ex. 1 (Gallo Decl.), Ex. C (May 5, 2008 email exchange between Tom Jawetz to Stephanie Kuehn) at 1. The impetus behind the plaintiffs renewed request for reconsideration was a New York Times article “that highlighted] the problem of deaths in ICE custody,” whiсh the plaintiff
2. ICE’s Response
On July 24, 1997, ICE, similar to the OIG, also denied the plaintiffs initial response for expedited processing of its FOIA request because ICE concluded that the plaintiff “failed to demonstrate a particular urgency to inform the public about the government activity involved in the request beyond the public’s right to know about government activity generally.” Id., Ex. 5 (July 24, 2007 Letter from Catrina M. Pavlik-Keenan to Tom Jawetz) at 1. On November 5, 2007, the plaintiff requested that ICE reconsider its denial of the plaintiffs request for expedited processing of the plaintiffs FOIA request, and ICE reconsidered and granted the request on November 15, 2007. Defs. Opp’n, Ex. 11 (Declaration of Ryan Law (“Law Decl.”)) ¶ 5. ICE then provided a “final response” to the plaintiff on January 4, 2008, in which it produced 856 pages of records to the plaintiff, with only thirty-three documents containing no redactions. Compl., Ex. 11 (January 4, 2008 letter from Catrina M. Pavlik-Keenan to Tom Jawetz (“January 4, 2008 letter”)) at 1-4. ICE also withheld numerous documents under the various FOIA exemptions delineated in 5 U.S.C. § 552(b); see generally id., Ex. 11 (January 4, 2008 letter) (explaining the FOIA exemptions that justify ICE’s decision to withhold certain records).
Believing the search and ultimate production of responsive documents inadequate, the plaintiff requested on February 15, 2008, that ICE provide a Vaughn index describing the FOIA exemptions relied upon by ICE to withhold documents. See id., Ex. 12 (February 15, 2008 e-mails between Tom Jawetz and Catrina M. PavlikKeenan (“February 15, 2008 e-mails”)) at 1. ICE refused to supply the index, however, because of its policy of not creating “Vaughn Indexes for FOIA requests that are not in litigation.” Id. The plaintiffs then filed an appeal with the Office of General Counsel on March 3, 2008, “challenging] the thoroughness of the search, as well as the dеcision to withhold, in part and in full, various records.” Compl., Ex. 22 (March 3, 2008 FOIA appeal from Tom Jawetz to ICE) at 1. Because of the pending litigation in this Court, ICE informed the plaintiff on July 30, 2008, that it was “administratively closing this appeal.” Pl.’s Mot. Summ. J., Ex. 1 (Walker Deck), Ex. 6 (July 30, 2008 Letter from Victoria Newhouse to Tom Jawetz) at 1.
3. The Current Litigation
“Frustrated” by the defendants’ response to its FOIA request, the plaintiff filed its Complaint in this Court on June 25, 2008. PL’s Mem. at 5. In the Complaint, the plaintiff requested that the Court issue an order (1) directing the defendants “to expedite the proceedings in this action,” Compl. ¶ 83, (2) “[e]njoin[ing the defendants from withholding the requested [r]ecords,”
id.
¶ 84, (3) directing the “[defendants to produce the [records,”
id.
¶ 85, and (4) “[a]ward[ing the p]laintiff its costs and reasonable attorney[s’] fees in this action,”
id.
¶ 86. Soon after the filing of the Complaint, in ap
On October 30, 2008, the parties filed a Joint Report with the Court, stating that the OIG and ICE would complete the processing of the plaintiffs request by November 14, 2008, and that the Department would search for records within its Civil Rights Office. October 30, 2008 Joint Report to the Court (“First Joint Report”) at 2. The OIG then provided its “third[ ] and final response” on November 13, 2008, producing 321 additional pages of documents. Defs.’ Mem. Summ. J., Ex. 1 (First Gallo Decl.), Ex. 12 (November 13, 2008, letter from Katherine R. Gallo to Tom Jawetz) at 1-2. Shortly thereafter, ICE produced its second “final response” on November 17, 2008, releasing 2,600 pages of additional documents, many of which were referrals from the OIG. Defs.’ Mem. Summ. J., Declaration of Catrina Pavlik-Keenan (“First Pavlik-Keenan Decl.”), Ex. 14 (November 17, 2008 letter from Catrina M. Pavlik to Tom Jawetz) at 1-4.
The parties then filed a second Joint Report with the Court on December 5, 2008. December 5, 2008 Joint Report to the Court (“Second Joint Report”). This Report indicated that ICE would complete its production of responsive documents by December 9, 2008, the Office of Civil Rights would complete its production by December 19, 2008, and that the OIG, ICE, and the Office of Civil Rights would produce Vaughn indexes describing then-search methodologies. Id. ¶¶ 1-4. On December 19, 2008, ICE released approximаtely 250 additional pages of documents in its third “final response” to the plaintiffs FOIA request. Defs.’ Mem. Summ. J., First Pavlik-Keenan Decl., Exs. 8, 15 (December 19, 2008 letters from Catrina M. Pavlik-Keenan to Tom Jawetz).
On January 23, 2009, the OIG provided its first Vaughn index. See Defs.’ Mem. Summ. J., First Gallo Decl., Ex. 35 (OIG’s Vaughn Index). About two weeks later, both the ICE and the Office of Civil Rights provided their first Vaughn indexes, and also released approximately 800 more pages of responsive documents. See id., Declaration of James W. McNeely (“McNeely Decl.”), Ex. 3 (Office of Civil Rights’ Vaughn Index); id., First PavlikKeenan Decl., Ex. 17 (ICE’s Vaughn Index). On February 11, 2008, ICE disclosed an additional 400 pages of responsive records. PL’s Mot. Summ. J., Walker Deck, Ex. 11 (February 11, 2008 letter from Catrina M. Pavlik-Keenan to Tom Jawetz).
On February 23, 2009, the parties filed a third Joint Report with the Court. February 23, 2009 Joint Report to the Court (“Third Joint Report”). The Report stated that the “[defendants have now сompleted processing and production of all records that [the defendants (i) located, (ii) deemed responsive to [the p]laintiffs June 27, 2007 FOIA request!,] and (iii) deemed releasable under the FOIA.” Id. at 1. Further, the Report set forth a timetable for resolving the case, which required the plaintiff to inform the defendants by April 6, 2009, whether it would challenge the defendants’ searches and assertions of FOIA exemptions, and setting dates for the defendants to file their motion for summary judgment and for the plaintiff to cross-move for summary judgment. Id. at 2.
The defendants continued to release documents after the Third Joint Report was issued. “ICE initiated a second, third,
Included in the June 26, 2009 release was an ICE Significant Incident Report, which concerned the January 18, 2007 death of Felix Franklin Rodriguez-Torres while in ICE custody. Pk’s Mot. Summ. J., Walker Deck, Ex. 22 (ICE Significant Incident Report) at 1-2. As a result of identifying the death of Mr. Rodriguez-Torres, ICE conducted additional searches, Defs.’ Opp’n at 10-11, which led to the identification of nine other in-custody deaths that had previously gone undisclosеd, Defs.’ Opp’n Summ. J., Declaration of Mary F. Loiselle, (“Loiselle Deck”) ¶ 23; Pk’s Summ. J. Reply, Supplemental Declaration of Benjamin R. Walker, Ex. 3 (September 4, 2009 letter Catrina M. PavlikKeenan to Benjamin Walker). And, as a result of further searches related to these deaths, ICE produced nearly 1,200 additional pages of documents to the plaintiff on September 4 and 11, 2009. Defs.’ Opp’n, Law Deck, ¶ 19.
On July 2, 2009, the defendants filed their motion for summary judgment, Defs.’ Mot. Summ. J. at 1, and the plaintiff submitted its cross-motion for partial summary judgment on August 14, 2009, Pk’s Mot. Summ. J. at 1. This Court granted in part and denied in part each party’s motion,
see ACLU,
II. ARGUMENT AND ANALYSIS
Under the FOIA, “[t]he court may assess against the United States reasonable attorney fees and other litigation costs reasonably incurred in any case ... in which the complainant has substantially prevailed.” 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(E)(i). “To award attorney[s’] fees under [the] FOIA, a court must undertake a two-step inquiry.”
Campaign for Responsible Transplantation v. FDA
A. The ACLU’s Eligibility for Attorneys’ Fees
A claimant is “eligible” for an award of attorneys fees if it has “substantially prevailed” in the underlying litigation.
Pyramid Lake,
Prior to the plaintiff filing its Complaint in this Court, the defendants had produced fewer than 900 pages of dоcuments. See Compl., Ex. 11 (January 4, 2008 letter). During the pendency of this litigation, however, the defendants released over 15,000 additional pages of documents. Pl.’s Mem. at 1. The plaintiff argues that the release of these 15,000 pages was substantially caused by this litigation, id. at 13, while the defendants argue that these releases were part of the administrative response to the plaintiffs FOIA request, Defs.’ Opp’n at 29. Although some of these releases were part of the defendants’ administrative response, which was delayed by exceptional circumstances, for the reasons that follow, this Court finds that the litigation substantially caused the defendants to release some records.
1. The Defendants’ Preparation of Vaughn Indexes Caused the Release of Records
FOIA litigation “substantially causes” the release of records if those records were identified as a result of the litigation.
See Fund for Constitutional Gov’t v. Nat’l Archives & Records Serv.,
Des Moines Register mirrors the facts in this case. There, the defendant did not produce a Vaughn index until it was under court order to do so. Id. Thus, the Court held that “the prosecution of [the] action could reasonably be regarded as necessary to obtain the documents first released in response to the Court’s Vaugh[n] order.” Id. Here, the defendants explicitly stated that they do not provide Vaughn indexes in the absence of litigation. See Compl., Ex. 12 (February 15, 2008 e-mails) (“We do not do Vaughn [i]ndexes for FOIA requests that are not in litigation.”); Defs.’ Mem. Summ. J., First Pavlik-Keenan Decl. ¶ 14 (“[T]he ICE FOIA office does not prepare a Vaughn index for a FOIA request that is not in litigation.”). After the plaintiff commenced this litigation, however, the parties reached an agreement that required the defendants to produce Vaughn indexes. Second Joint Report at 2. On the same day that ICE produced its first Vaughn index, it released nearly 360 pages of records. See Pl.’s Mot. Summ. J., Walker Deck, Exs. 8-10 (February 6, 2009 letters from Catrina M. PavlikKeenan to Tom Jawetz).
The Office of Civil Rights also identified and released records as a result of preparing its first Vaughn index. The Office of Civil Rights stated that “[i]n the course of further processing of responsive documents in preparation of [this] Vaughn index, [the Office of Civil Rights] determined that an additional 440 pages of e[-]mail communications could be released in part.” Defs.’ Mem. Summ. J., McNeely Deck ¶ 14. Thus, the defendants’ own submissions admit that at least some of the documents were produced as a result of preparing Vaughn indexes. These documents would therefore not have been produced without litigation; accordingly, the litigation substantially caused the defendants to release these documents.
2. The Litigation Caused the Production of Documents Released After the Third Joint Report
On February 23, 2009, the parties filed a Joint Report with the Court stating that the defendants had “completed processing and production of all records” and setting forth a timetable for filing summary judgment motions. Third Joint Report at 1-2. This Report was a clear indication that the administrative portion of the plaintiffs FOIA request was complete. See id. However, the defendants continued to release documents after filing this Report, including a release by ICE of nearly 6,000 pages in April, Defs.’ Mem. Summ. J., Second Pavlik-Keenan Deck Exs. 2-4 (April 2008 Release Letters); 1,400 pages in June, Pk’s Mot. Summ. J., Walker Deck, Exs. 20-21 (June 2009 Release Letters); and 1,200 pages in September of 2009, 3 Defs.’ Opp’n, Law Deck ¶ 19.
The defendants devote most of their brief to describing what it contends were exceptional circumstances that caused significant delays in responding to the plaintiffs FOIA request.
See
Defs.’ Opp’n at 6-8, 11-18, 21-25, 29-32. The Court does not question that the defendants faced unavoidable delays in processing the plaintiffs FOIA request;
4
however, the delays
The defendants also argue that some of these records were released as a result of new guidelines implemented by President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder, and not as a result of this litigation.
See
Defs.’ Opp’n at 38 (“[The] OIG and [the Civil Rights Office’s] releases of additional information were caused by the new Attorney General FOIA Guidelines, and not as a result of [the] plaintiffs lawsuit.”).
5
The District of Columbia Circuit rejected a similar argument in
Church of Scientology of California v. Harris,
The Circuit’s conclusions in
Harris
apply to the present case. The Attorney General’s letter stated that
“[w]ith regard to litigation pending on the date of the issuance of this memorandum,
this guidance should be taken into account and applied if practicable when ... there is a substantial likelihood that application of the guidance would result in a material disclosure of additional information.” Defs.’ Opp’n, Gallo Decl. ¶ 41. The letter plainly states that the plaintiffs FOIA request was eligible for review because it was already in litigation at the time the policy change was issued.
See O’Neill, Lysaght & Sun v. Drug Enforcement Admin.,
B. The ACLU’s Entitlement to Attorneys’ Fees
“Congress clearly intended the award of fees to serve two separate and distinct FOIA objectives ... to encourage [FOIA] suits that benefit the public interest,” and to “compensate] for enduring an agency’s unreasonable obduracy in refusing to comply with the [FOIA] requirements.”
LaSalle Extension Univ. v. FTC,
The defendants do not dispute that the first three factors favor the plaintiffs “entitlement” to attorneys’ fees. See Defs.’ Opp’n at 35 (“[T]he last factor alone essentially mandates that no fees be awarded____”). However, the defendants do argue that they had a reasonable basis in law to withhold the documents because “this Court upheld all of the exemptions asserted by ICE,” and the OIG and the Office of Civil Rights “had a good faith basis in withholding [the documents the Court ordered the defendants to review] on other exemptions that ha[ve] not been challenged.” Defs.’ Opp’n at 36.
The Court’s finding that the plaintiff substantially prevailed based upon the release of documents prior to this Court’s September 20, 2010 Order has stripped this argument of persuasiveness. Putting aside the exempt documents, the defendants did not have a reasonable basis for withholding the 8,500 pages of records that were produced after the defendants had “completed processing and production of all records,” Third Joint Report at 1-2, because “defendant’s failure to produce documents due to backlog or administrative issues does not constitute a ‘reasonable basis in law.’”
Jarno v. Dep’t of Homeland Sec.,
C. The Reasonableness of ACLU’s Request for Attorneys ’Fees
After a plaintiff is deemed to be “eligible” and “entitled” to an award of attorneys’ fees, the court must determine the “lodestar: the number of hours reasonably expended multiplied by a reasonable hourly rate.”
Nat’l Ass’n of Concerned Veterans v. Sec’y of Def.,
The defendants raise three arguments against the reasonableness of the plaintiffs request: first, the attorneys’ fees requested by the plaintiff are unreasonable because they “amount[] to a request for approximаtely $20,272.72 per page for the [eleven] pages of records even arguably produced under Court Order in this case,” Defi’s Opp’n at 39; second, the “plaintiff has submitted declarations using block billing supported by quarter-hour billing,” 6 id. at 42; and third, “many of the billing entries are wholly inappropriate” id. at 41.
The defendants’ first argument has no merit in light of this Court’s conclusion that the plaintiffs litigation substantially caused the release of thousands of pages of records prior to the issuance of the Court’s September 20, 2010 Order. Because of this voluminous release, the requested reward is reasonable “in light of the results obtained.”
See, e.g., Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Dep’t of Commerce,
1. Quarter-Hour Billing
This Court has allowed quarter-hour billing in the past but has cautioned against it.
See A.C. ex rel. Clark v. District of Columbia,
The billing by Sullivan
&
Cromwell attorneys was calculated based on quarter-hour increments,
see
Mot., McCall Decl., Ex. A (Sullivan
&
Cromwell Attorneys’ Billing Record (“S & C Billing Record”)), while the ACLU’s National Prison Project
2. The Reasonableness of Billing Entries
A court should “exclude from [its] initial fee calculation hours that were not ‘reasonably expended.’ ”
Hensley,
work done by Ms. Margaret Pfeiffer on [a] “retention letter!,”] work done by several of the attorneys on “review of Press releases by ACLU prior to the filing of the lawsuit,” correspondence related to “service issue,” correspondence on “publicity,” “research by each attorney for the same issues,” “drafting/revising of the complaint by three attorneys,” and “[r]eview of draft interrogatories!.”]
Defs.’ Opp’n at 41 (second alteration in original) (footnote omitted). The defendants also object to the “more than 60 hours preparing the 31[-]page [c]omplaint” and to “several entries related to ‘research on reasonableness of [the defendants’] search,’ ” because they contend the plaintiff did not prevail on this issue. Id. at 41-42 (emphasis omitted).
It is difficult to discern exactly which entries the defendants object to because they include no citations to particular time records, nor do they quantify the hours or fee amounts related to the challenged items. For example, three of these alleged billing items — “review of Press releases by ACLU prior to filing of the lawsuit,” “research by each attorney for the same issue,” and “drafting/revising of the complaint by three attorneys,” are not located anywhere in the plaintiffs billing records. Furthermore, many of the other billing items the defendants object to were reasonably expended in the course of the litigation in this case. For example, the entry “[c]orrespondence re[:] service issues,” Mot., McCall Deck, Ex. A (S & C Billing Record) at 10, is not inappropriate because it is related to the service of the
The Court agrees, however, with the defendants that some of the billing entries must be excluded from the award. The plaintiff stated that it had excluded from the requested award “time spent by [Sullivan & Cromwell] and ACLU attorneys on tasks not directly related to this litigation (e.g., tasks relating to press communications).” Pl.’s Mem. at 26 (emphasis omitted);
see also
Mot., McCall Decl. at 2 n. 1 (explaining that “the notations of ‘Material Redacted’ on the daily time records ... primarily indicate time entriеs that were excluded from the fee request”). Despite the plaintiffs attempts to exclude time invested by Sullivan
&
Cromwell attorneys related to press communications, it appears that the .25 hours expended by Margaret Pfeiffer on “[correspondence re: publicity,” Mot., McCall Decl., Ex. A (S & C Billing Record) at 2, was inadvertently left unredacted, and therefore must be excluded from the award. Although perhaps reasonably expended, the defendants object to, and the plaintiff does not attempt to justify, the time it took to prepare the retention letter, and the Court will deduct 2.5 hours for the work performed by Ms. Pfeiffer. Finally, the Court finds that the hours billed by Natalie Kuehler in drafting the Complaint are excessive. In addition to thе 53.5 hours devoted by Ms. Kuehler to drafting, revising, and finalizing the Complaint,
id.,
McCall Decl., Ex. A (S & C Billing Records) at 7-8, and the fees for 3.7 hours billed for work performed by Tom Jawetz drafting and revising the complaint,
id.,
Shapiro Decl., Ex. A (NPP Billing Records) at 1-2, 16.5 hours are billed for the same services performed by Benjamin Walker,
id.,
at 11, and 2.5 hours are billed for the time Ms. Pfeiffer spent drafting the Complaint,
id.,
McCall Deck, Ex. A (S & C Billing Records) at 1. Although the bulk of the work was performed by a lower-level associate, the Court finds that 76.2 hours devoted to drafting, revising, and finalizing the Complaint is excessive even for a junior associate who may not have prior experience performing such a task.
See Apple Corps. Ltd. v. Int’l Collectors Soc’y,
In summary, the Court is deducting the following billings from the plaintiffs voucher: 2.75 hours for work performed by Ms. Pfeiffer preparing “[c]orrespondence re: publicity” and the retention let
III. CONCLUSION
The plaintiff is both “eligible” and “entitled” for an award of attorneys fees because the litigation substantially caused the defendants to release thousands of pages of records. However, because of a computational error and billing entries that were not reasonable, the Court will deduct $8,087.50 from the award requested by the plaintiff. Accordingly, the plaintiff is awarded $215,381.59 for attorneys’ fees and costs. 12
Notes
. In light of the parties' consent, and for good cause, the Defendants’ Unopposed Motion for Further Extension of Time is granted. Thus, the defendants' Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion for Attorneys' Fees and Costs and the plaintiff's Reply Memorandum of Law in Further Support of Plaintiff's Motion for an Award of Attorneys' Fees and Costs ("PL's Reply”) are both considered to have been filed timely.
. In deciding the motion for attorneys’ fees, the Court also considered the following filings: the Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (“Defs.' Mot. Summ. J.”); the Defendants' Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Defendants’ Motion for
. The releases in September of 2009 came less than one month after the plaintiff had moved for summary judgment on August 14, 2009.
. The OIG, for example, received 218 FOIA requests in the first six-months of fiscal year 2007 alone, which was nearly twice as many requests as it had received in the entire year prior. Defs.' Opp’n at 6.
. The relevancy of this argument is questionable, as the defendants argue only that the OIG and the Office of Civil Rights reviewed anew records bаsed upon the shift in policy. See Defs.' Opp’n at 38. Thus, this argument, even if valid, would have no affect on the thousands of pages of records released by ICE after the filing of the Third Joint Report.
. Although the defendants object to the plaintiff’s request on the grounds that the plaintiff has submitted entries based on block billing, the only arguments they make pertain to the increments of time used by plaintiff's counsel to track their billing, and not to the documentation of tasks performed and billed for.
See In re Olson,
. While the Court would not expect any future billing to be submitted in this case, the plaintiff is frequently involved in other litigation in this Court and is on notice that payment based on quarter-hour billing increments will not be condoned.
. In the billing records, this entry actually appears as "[l]egal research relatated to reasonableness of search.” Mot., McCall Decl., Ex. A (S & C Billing Record) at 12.
. The defendants argue this billing is inappropriate because the plaintiff "did not prevail” on this issue. Defs.' Opp'n at 41-42. This argument is flawed. The plaintiff's billed for the “research related to reasonableness of search” on October 29, 2008. Mot., McCall Decl., Ex. A (S & C Billing Record) at 12. Thus, this research was conducted before the defendants had produсed any Vaughn indexes, and before the parties had submitted the Third Joint Report. Therefore, this research would have been directed at searches performed by the defendants that were not challenged in the plaintiff's motion for summary judgment because the plaintiff’s litigation had already caused the defendants to conduct the additional searches.
. .25 of these horn’s are being deducted from Ms. Pfeiffer’s billings for work performed pri- or to June 1, 2008, while 2.5 of these hours are being deducted from Ms. Pfeiffer’s billings from June 1, 2008 to May 31, 2009. Accordingly, based on the Laffey Matrix, the Court will deduct $110.00 and $1,162.50 from the award respectively.
. The time deducted will be divided equally between the work Ms. Keuhler performed pri- or to June 1, 2008, and the work performed from June 1, 2008 to May 31, 2009. Thus, based on the Laffey Matrix, the Court will deduct $2,881.00 and $3,604.50 respectively.
.The Court will contemporaneously issue an Order consistent with this Memorandum Opinion.