August 3, 2012
Previously published on August 2, 2012
On July 20, 2012, Chief ALJ Charles E. Bullock issued the public version of Order No. 49 (dated July 11, 2012) ordering Respondent CRU Acquisitions Group LLC (“CRU”) to pay $9,784.83 in attorneys’ fees in Certain Computer Forensic Devices and Products Containing Same (Inv. No. 337-TA-799). By way of background, on April 23, 2012 and May 1, 2012, ALJ Bullock issued Order Nos. 43 and 44 granting Complainant MyKey Technology Inc.’s (“MyKey”) motions to compel written discovery, product samples, and source code. See our May 4, 2012 and June 29, 2012 posts for further details regarding Order Nos. 43 and 44, respectively. On June 5, 2012, the ALJ issued Order No. 46 granting MyKey’s motion for sanctions against CRU for its failure to comply with Order Nos. 43 and 44. As part of Order No. 46, MyKey was awarded its attorneys’ fees that it spent “on filing the present motion and reply and to the extent CRU’s delayed productions necessitate[d] supplemental expert reports,” MyKey was awarded its fees associated with preparation of those reports. MyKey requested a total of $35,223.26, which included “time spent on the motion for sanctions, motion for leave to file a reply, meeting and conferring with CRU regarding Order Nos. 43 and 44, and time that MyKey’s expert spent on inspecting source code.” Having reviewed the invoices submitting by MyKey, ALJ Bullock awarded attorneys’ fees in the amount of $9,784.83. The ALJ determined that a downward adjustment of the requested fees was appropriate because many of the billing statements submitted by MyKey covered charges related to unrecoverable tasks and there was no evidence to show what portions of the mixed entries were directed solely to MyKey’s motion and reply. Further, MyKey’s billing statement for expert fees did not include any entries directly related to the preparation of a supplemental expert report, which was the only category of recoverable expert fees.
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