Olinyk v. Flemming
Olinyk v. Flemming
Opinion of the Court
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Before the court are (1) defendant Keith Ringham’s motions to deny attorneys’ fees and to stay briefing on the plaintiffs motion for fees and costs; and (2) plaintiff Joseph Olinyk’s motion for attorneys’ fees. For the reasons explained below, we grant Ringham’s motion to deny fees, deny his motion to stay briefing as moot, and deny the plaintiffs motion for attorneys’ fees.
BACKGROUND
Olinyk and Paulina Applegate filed a six-count complaint against five defendants stemming from Olinyk’s arrest at Apple-gate’s residence in 2008. The complaint alleged that four Island Lake police officers — Jeffery Flemming, James Gainer, Mike Wahl, and Thomas Westley — illegally entered Applegate’s home and used excessive force to arrest Olinyk, injuring Apple-gate in the process. According to the plaintiffs, the Island Lake police officers beat Olinyk and sprayed him with pepper spray without provocation. Ringham, a Wauconda police officer, was named as a defendant to Olinyk’s excessive-force claim for his conduct after the Island Lake police officers removed Olinyk from the house. As developed at trial, Ringham and Gainer dragged Olinyk from outside Applegate’s home to an ambulance, causing bruises and abrasions along the way.
In December 2010, Ringham made a $2,500 Rule 68 offer of judgment, which Olinyk rejected. Shortly thereafter, Olinyk and Applegate accepted Rule 68 offers
DISCUSSION
A. Whether it is Necessary to Calculate a Lodestar Fee Amount in This Case
Olinyk was a prevailing party for purposes of 42 U.S.C. § 1988 even though his recovery was de minimis. See Farrar v. Hobby, 506 U.S. 103, 112, 113 S.Ct. 566, 121 L.Ed.2d 494 (1992) (a plaintiff who recovers even nominal damages is a prevailing party under § 1988). But Ringham argues that the award was so small in relation to Olinyk’s demands that we should deny his request for attorneys’ fees outright. In Farrar, the plaintiff sought $17 million in compensatory damages, but received only nominal damages of $1. See Farrar, 506 U.S. at 106-07, 113 S.Ct. 566. The Supreme Court held that this disparity permitted the district court to award “no fees or low fees” without conducting the reasonableness inquiry that the Court established in Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 103 S.Ct. 1933, 76 L.Ed.2d 40 (1983). See Farrar, 506 U.S. at 115, 113 S.Ct. 566; see also id. at 117-18, 113 S.Ct. 566 (O’Connor, J., concurring) (“As a matter of common sense and sound judicial administration, it would be wasteful indeed to require that courts laboriously and mechanically go through [the procedure established in Hensley ] when the de minim-is nature of the victory makes the proper fee immediately obvious.”); of. Hensley, 461 U.S. at 433, 103 S.Ct. 1933 (requiring courts to calculate a “lodestar” fee amount that the court may adjusted using a multifactor test for reasonableness).
There is some tension in controlling Seventh Circuit authority about when it is appropriate to “jettison” the lodestar method of determining fees. Cole v. Wodziak, 169 F.3d 486, 488 (7th Cir. 1999). Cole held that district courts may apply Farrar when the plaintiff recovers more than nominal damages, but still substantially less than he demanded. See id. (“When recovery is low enough in relation to the demand, however, the judge may jettison the lodestar apparatus and choose an appropriate fee using other means.”) (citing Farrar, 506 U.S. at 114-15, 113 S.Ct. 566). Cole suggests that a recovery of less than 10% of the plaintiffs demand would be sufficient. See id. at 489; Perlman v. Zell, 185 F.3d 850, 859 (7th Cir. 1999) (“We have held in a series of recent cases that a litigant who wins less than 10 % of his initial demand either is not a prevailing party for purposes of fee-shifting statutes or should be treated as if he had not prevailed.”); but see Tuf Racing Prods., Inc. v. American Suzuki Motor Corp., 223 F.3d 585, 592 (7th Cir. 2000)
Despite the tension among these authorities, we think it is appropriate to evaluate Olinyk’s fee request without incurring the time and expense of a full-blown Hensley analysis. Olinyk recovered substantially less than the plaintiff in Cole, both as a total recovery ($100 versus $4,500) and as a percentage of his demand (less than one percent versus 9%). And although his recovery was not “nominal,”
B. Whether the Plaintiff is Entitled to Any Fees
A de minimis damages award does not always tell the whole story. Our Court of Appeals has adopted a three-part test in cases involving “nominal” or “minimal” damages “to determine whether a prevailing party achieved enough success in the underlying suit to be entitled to an award of attorney’s fees.” Simpson v. Sheahan, 104 F.3d 998, 1001 (7th Cir. 1997). “The ‘relevant indicia of success’ in such cases are: (1) the difference between the judgment recovered and the recovery sought; (2) the significance of the legal issue on which the plaintiff prevailed; and (3) the public purpose of the litigation.” Id. (quoting Farrar, 506 U.S. at 122, 113 S.Ct. 566). The “indicia of success” in this case warrant “no fees or low fees.” Farrar, 506 U.S. at 115, 113 S.Ct. 566. As we have just discussed, Olinyk recovered less than 1% of his demand. This is the most important factor in cases governed by Farrar, see Maul v. Constan, 23 F.3d 143, 145 (7th Cir. 1994), and it strongly supports denying attorneys’ fees. The second factor is the “least important” and concerns the “legal import” of the plaintiffs constitutional claim. Id. This factor is sometimes described as requiring the court to consider “the extent the plaintiffs succeeded on their theory of liability.” Cartwright v. Stamper, 7 F.3d 106, 110 (7th Cir. 1993); but see Maul, 23 F.3d at 145 (suggesting that the relevant question is instead whether the plaintiff sought to vindicate an important or “significant” right). Olinyk’s claim against Ringham was originally based upon his alleged personal use of excessive force. {See Compl. ¶ 341 (“[T]he physical force used by the Defendants [including Ringham] against Plaintiff Olinyk before and after Plaintiff Olinyk was handcuffed was unreasonable, including kicking, striking, deploying oleoresin capsicum, and dragging and dropping Plaintiff Olinyk.”).) The jury did not find for Olinyk and against Ringham on that theory. Instead, it awarded Olinyk $100 based upon Ringham’s failure to intervene, a theory that was added late in the case. See Cartwright, 7 F.3d at 110 (“We can infer from the verdict here that the jury rejected the plaintiffs’ broad allegations of a conspiracy to obtain documentary evidence of Cartwright’s harassment claim.”). So, Olinyk was only partially successful against Ringham on his theory of liability. We conclude that this factor weighs in Olinyk’s favor, but it “only minimally advances [his] claim that he is entitled to attorneys’ fees.” Maul, 23 F.3d at 146.
CONCLUSION
The defendant’s motion to deny attorneys’ fees [91] is granted. His motion to stay briefing on the plaintiffs fee motion [97] is denied as moot. The plaintiffs motion for fees [95] is denied.
. The plaintiffs and the Island Lake defendants later settled the plaintiffs' claims for attorneys fees and costs.
. During deliberations the jury asked whether it could find for the plaintiff on his excessive-force claim but award no damages. We instructed the jury that it was required to award at least nominal damages of $1 if it found for the plaintiff. The $100 award indicates that the jury ultimately found that Olinyk had shown a compensable injury. Cf. Farrar, 506 U.S. at 115, 113 S.Ct. 566 ("In a civil rights suit for damages ... the awarding of nominal damages ... highlights the plaintiff’s failure to prove actual, compensable injury.”).
. Estate of Enoch and Sheehan would have been highly relevant if the Island Lake defendants challenged the plaintiffs’ fee requests. (Cf. infra note 1.) Olinyk and Applegate recovered a significant amount of money from those defendants, ($30,000 and $20,000, respectively), even though it was only a small percentage of the money that they had requested in their complaint.
. The outcome is essentially the same if we instead ask whether the plaintiff sought to vindicate an important right. See Maul, 23
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Joseph OLINYK and Pauline A. Applegate v. Jeffrey D. FLEMMING, James Gainer, Mike Wahl, Thomas J. Westley, and Keith Ringham
- Status
- Published