Judge Reduces Attorney’s Fees Award Because of Lack of E-Discovery Competence
In Chen v. Dougherty (W.D. Wash. 2009), the Court found that an attorney's "inhibited ability to participate meaningfully in electronic discovery," required a reduction in that attorney's reasonable hourly rate for purposes of an attorney's fee award.
The discovery at issue involved 50,000 pages of paper documents that were produced TO the subject attorney. The Court noted that both parties "failed to put together a proper discovery plan concerning Electronically Stored Information," and that the attorney receiving the documents "contributed to the resulting discovery dispute by failing to offer search terms for the delivery of relevant ESI."
The Court decided a reduction of fees was appropriate because the attorney's, "inhibited ability to participate meaningfully in electronic discovery tells the Court that she has novice skills in this area and cannot command the rate of experienced counsel."
