MEMORANDUM OPINION
Plaintiffs Ward Bucher and his minor son J.B. seek to collect attorneys’ fees and other costs incurred in bringing a successful administrative action under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”), 20 U.S.C. § 1400, et seq. Defendant is the Government of the District of Columbia. 1 This matter is before the Court on Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment. Upon consideration of the Motion, Opposition, Reply, and the entire record herein, and for the reasons stated below, Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment is granted in part.
I. BACKGROUND
A. Factual History 2
Plaintiff J.B., now nine years old, is “an intellectually gifted child with a problem with work production due to problems with fine motor control and visual motor integration.” H.O. Decision 6, ¶ 12. In the past, J.B. has scored in the 99th percentile for his age group in ability to reason, verbal skills, and vocabulary. Id. at 7, ¶ 17. His intellectual reasoning skills have scored at or above the 95th percentile. Id. J.B. has also shown above average ability in non-verbal skills. Id. at 8, ¶ 18.
However, J.B. suffers from a number of disabilities which have “made it difficult for [him] to sustain focused attention and effort as well as to regulate his behaviors.” Id. at 8, ¶ 19. These disabilities include Attention Defícit/Hyperactivity Disorder (“ADHD”), with which J.B. was diagnosed in 2007, and an auditory processing learning disorder and sensory integration disorder, with which J.B. was diagnosed in 2008. Id. at 6, ¶ 12. J.B. has also “exhibited behavioral issues in the classroom, including, aggression, non-compliance, inability to accept any criticism ... and difficulty socializing.” Id. at 10, ¶ 28. These disabilities would cause J.B. to “struggle in a typical school environment.” Id. at 12, ¶ 35.
In 2007, when J.B. was approximately six years old, he was asked to leave his Montessori preschool because of his behavioral problems. Id. at 4, ¶ 2. J.B. was then asked to leave his next school, which was in Guatemala, due to aggression toward other students. Id.
In May 2008, J.B.’s father attempted to enroll him in his neighborhood school run by the District of Columbia Public Schools (“DCPS”). Id. at 5, ¶ 4. The school refused. Id. On May 8, 2008, J.B.’s father sent the school a letter explaining his son’s disabilities and requesting evaluations and a meeting to discuss accommodating J.B.’s needs. Id. at 5, ¶ 5. Finally, and only after intervention by the DCPS Ombudsman’s Office at the request of J.B.’s parents, the school scheduled a meeting for August 20, 2008. Id.
The notice J.B.’s parents received for the August 20 meeting did not indicate that “this meeting would be an eligibility meeting, or even that the neighborhood school staff planned to discuss evaluations
Because J.B.’s parents believed that placing him “in a general education classroom for even a short time would be traumatic” and feared “another behavioral incident,” they enrolled J.B. in a nonpublic school for the 2008-2009 school year. Id. at 6, ¶ 9. J.B.’s parents also paid for private occupational therapy, tutoring, and neurological and auditory evaluations for J.B. Id. at 6, ¶ 10.
On March 31, 2009, Plaintiffs filed a Due Process Complaint alleging that DCPS had denied J.B. a FAPE. Id. at 2. J.B.’s hearing lasted four days, during which time Plaintiffs called nine witnesses and submitted numerous exhibits. Pis.’ Statement of Facts ¶¶ 8-10. On June 18, 2009, the Hearing Officer determined that,
the testimony overwhelmingly established that [J.B.] is eligible for special education as a student with multiple disabilities. Yet, DCPS ignored Petitioner’s repeated requests for an eligibility meeting. When finally forced to hold the meeting by the DCPS Ombudsman’s Office, DCPS failed to provide Petitioners adequate notice that they would discuss [J.B.]’s eligibility for special education. Then, after discussing [J.B.J’s disabilities and need for specialized instruction, the team failed to make an eligibility determination or decision about the request for evaluations. Instead, the DCPS team decided to throw the Student into a general education classroom to see if he ‘would sink or swim.’ ... DCPS denied [J.B.] a free, appropriate, public education in failing to find [him] eligible for special education.
H.O. Decision 16-17. The Hearing Officer ordered DCPS to reimburse Plaintiffs for the costs of J.B.’s tuition for 2008-2009 and the tutoring and evaluations undertaken at Plaintiffs’ expense, and to pay for J.B. to continue to attend his non-public school for the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 school years. Id.
After the Hearing Officer issued the decision, Plaintiffs submitted a petition for attorneys’ fees and costs to DCPS, seeking $50,155.00. Pis.’ Statement of Facts ¶ 30. DCPS reimbursed Plaintiffs in the amount of $26,436.00, resulting in a difference of $23,719.00 between what Plaintiffs believe they are owed for the total of attorneys’ fees and costs relating to J.B.’s petition and what Defendant has paid. Pis.’ Statement of Facts ¶¶ 32-33. Defendant concedes that it owes Plaintiffs $1779.47 in fees. Def.’s Opp’n Ex. A, at 1. Therefore, costs of $21,939.53 relating to J.B.’s case remain in dispute.
B. Procedural History
On October 1, 2009, Plaintiffs filed their Complaint [Dkt. No. 1] seeking the outstanding balance from their fee petition. On November 23, 2009, Defendant filed its Answer [Dkt. No. 9], On December 17, 2009, Plaintiffs filed a Motion for Summary Judgment [Dkt. No. 12], On June 25, 2010, Defendant filed its Opposition [Dkt. No. 30]. On July 23, 2010, Plaintiffs filed their Reply [Dkt. No. 32].
II. GOVERNING STANDARDS
Summary judgment may be granted “only if’ the pleadings, the discovery and disclosure materials on file, and any affidavits show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
See
Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c), as amend
Section 1415(i)(3)(B) of the IDEA gives federal district courts the authority to “award reasonable attorneys’ fees as part of the costs to the parents of a child with a disability who is the prevailing party” in an administrative proceeding. 20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(3)(B).
3
Where the party seeking the attorneys’ fees was the prevailing party, the court must assess whether the fees sought are reasonable.
See Jackson v. District of Columbia,
The plaintiff bears the burden of demonstrating that both the hourly rate and the number of hours spent on particular tasks are reasonable.
In re North,
III. ANALYSIS
Defendant makes two basic objections to the fees sought by Plaintiffs. First, Defendant claims that Plaintiffs’ counsel’s hourly rates are unreasonable. Specifically, Defendant contends that Plaintiffs’ reliance on the llLaffey Matrix” is not justified and that Plaintiffs should be reimbursed at the lower rates set by DCPS. Def.’s Opp’n 4-10. Second, Defendant argues that specific charges are unreasonable. Id. at 10-15. These claims will be addressed in turn.
A. Hourly Rates
Plaintiffs seek fees for counsel Karen D. Alvarez at an hourly rate of $300 for time billed before April 24, 2009, and at an hourly rate of $350 for time billed after April 24, 2009. Pis.’ Mot. for Summ. J. 1. Plaintiffs rely on the fact that these rates
The
Laffey
Matrix, approved long ago in
Laffey v. Northwest Airlines, Inc.,
Defendant observes that the
Lajfey
Matrix “was intended and designed for representation in federal civil litigation, not administrative proceedings.” Def.’s Opp’n 5;
see Covington,
This Court recently considered precisely the same argument and rejected it.
Cox v. District of Columbia,
Moreover, Defendant’s claim that J.B.’s hearing was “uncomplicated” is untenable. See Def. Opp’n 5. J.B.’s hearing lasted twenty-seven hours across four days. H.O. Decision 3; Pis.’ Statement of Facts ¶ 7. The Hearing Officer considered forty-two proposed exhibits, the testimony of nine witnesses for the Plaintiffs, including five expert witnesses, and written closing statements. H.O. Decision 3-4; Pis.’ Statement of Facts ¶¶ 8-10. In addition, Plaintiffs’ counsel had to prepare for the testimony of the twelve witnesses for whom Defendant provided notice of its intention to call. Pis.’ Statement of Facts ¶11.
Agapito
involved no such complex matters, “no pre-hearing interrogatories or discovery, no production of documents or depositions, no psychiatrists or psychologists testifying about learning disabilities, no briefings of intricate statutory or constitutional issues, no pre-trial briefings, no
Finally, as noted in
Cox,
“Defendant offers no reasoned defense for its own Guidelines.”
The Lajfey Matrix sets out an hourly rate of $465 for work performed in 2008-2009 by attorneys with more than twenty years of experience. Plaintiffs seek an hourly rate of only $300 for time billed before April 24, 2009, and an hourly rate of $350 for time billed after April 24, 2009, for Alvarez, who has practiced law for over twenty-four years. See Pis.’ Mot. for Summ. J. 1; Alvarez Decl. ¶8 [Dkt. No. 12-3]. Alvarez has represented clients in proceedings before the DCPS Student Hearing Office for thirteen years. Alvarez Decl. ¶ 9. Given this experience, $300 is a reasonable rate for Alvarez’s time billed before April 24, 2009, and $350 is a reasonable rate for Alvarez’s time billed after April 24, 2009, on this matter.
B. Specific Charges
Defendant makes five challenges to the reasonableness of specific charges. Defendant claims that (1) certain clerical and non-professional work should not be compensated at an attorney’s rate, (2) charges for legal work performed far before the administrative hearing are not compensable, (3) certain of Plaintiffs’ entries are too vague to merit compensation, (4) certain of Plaintiffs’ entries are duplicates, and (5) Plaintiffs are not entitled to reimbursement for routine costs and overhead. See Def.’s Opp’n 10-15. Each will be considered individually.
1. “Clerical” and “Paralegal” Activities
Defendant objects to the attempt by Plaintiffs’ counsel to charge attorney rates for certain work performed, “such as calls and letters to request records from a school.” Def.’s Opp’ n. 11. Defendant similarly argues that certain activities should have been billed at a paralegal rate— though Defendant does not provide any rationale for the way in which it categorizes these entries.
Id.
at 15. Defendant relies on
Bailey v. District of Columbia,
However, the court in
Bailey
specifically recognized that attorneys “operating either as solo practitioners or in small firms, often lack the resources to retain a large staff of junior lawyers who could handle such tasks more economically” and that “[d]enying plaintiffs compensation for these tasks would unfairly punish plaintiffs and their counsel for not staffing this case as if they had the manpower of a major law firm.”
Further, Defendant fails to explain why tasks such as “Reading and responding to correspondence from the DCPS Office of
2. Charges Relating to Activities in Advance of the Hearing
Defendant next challenges certain costs on the ground that charges “more than a year prior” to the Due Process Hearing “are too remote in time to have any relationship to the administrative proceedings,” which occurred on May 11-13 and June 8, 2009. Def.’s Opp’n 12. Defendant contends that “in the absence of some extraordinary explanation detailing how the actions directly related to the administrative proceeding,” such charges must be deemed unreasonable. Id. at 12-13.
This Court previously rejected this argument in
Cox,
Nonetheless, the Court may “ ‘make an independent determination whether or not the hours claimed are justified.’”
Holbrook,
3. “Vague” Charges
Defendant argues that entries with descriptions such as “Review of email from ed consultant” or “Schedule witness” are too vague to determine whether they are reasonably related to the Due Process Complaint. Def.’s Opp’n 13.
To be sufficient, an invoice “need not present the exact number of minutes spent nor the precise activity to which each hour was devoted nor the specific attainments of each attorney.”
Nat’l Ass’n of Concerned Veterans,
4. “Duplicate” Entries
Defendant next challenges twelve entries as “apparently duplicated elsewhere in the invoice.” Def.’s Opp’n 14. Defendant provides no explanation for why it believes these entries represent duplicated work, other than, presumably, that the language in these entries is similar to the language in other entries. Plaintiffs have satisfied their burden of demonstrating the reasonableness of hours spent “by submitting an invoice that is sufficiently detailed to ‘permit the District Court to make an independent determination whether or not the hours claimed are justified.’ ”
Holbrook,
5. “Routine” Costs
Defendant challenges eight entries as “routine business expenses ... not reimbursable under IDEA.” Def.’s Opp’n 14. Two of these challenged entries, “Communicate ed consultant Re filing, etc.” and “Review eval file,” are clearly compensable for the reasons spelled out above. See supra Part III.B.l.
As for the remaining six entries, which all represent travel to and from hearings, Defendant argues that “[s]uch expenses are not allowable.” Def.’s Opp’n 14. Defendant is incorrect. “In this circuit, travel time generally is compensated at no more than half the attorney’s appropriate hourly rate.”
Blackman v. District of Columbia,
Because travel time is compensated at half the attorney’s rate, however, compensation for the six entries reflecting travel should be reduced.
Blackman,
IV. CONCLUSION
Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment is granted in part. Plaintiffs’ request for $23,719.00 in reimbursement is reduced by $2,375.00. Defendant must reimburse Plaintiffs’ for attorneys’ costs and fees in the amount of $21,344.00.
Notes
. Nominal Defendants Michelle A. Rhee, former Chancellor of the District of Columbia Schools, and Kerri Briggs, former Acting State Superintendent of Education for the District of Columbia, were dismissed with consent of Plaintiffs on November 5, 2009.
. Unless otherwise noted, the facts set forth herein are drawn from the Parties' Statements of Material Facts Not in Dispute submitted pursuant to Local Rule 7(h) and from the Hearing Officer's Decision ("H.O. Decision"), Compl. Ex. A [Dkt. No. 1-2].
. Defendants concede that Plaintiffs are the “prevailing party" for the purposes of § 1415(i)(3)(B) and as such are entitled to an award of “reasonable attorneys’ fees” under the statute. See Def.'s Opp'n 3.