— (eS) ase 2:12-cv-08333-ODW-JC Document 102 Filed 04/05/13 Page1of4 Page ID #:228 an E. Pietz Pen 260629) EPIETZ LAW FIRM 3770 Highland Ave., Ste. 206 Manhattan Beach, CA 90266 mpietz@pietzlawfirm. com Telephone: (310) 424-5557 Facsimile : (310) 546-5301 Nicholas Ranallo 371 Dogwood Wa Boulder Creek, CA 95006 nick@ranallolawoffice.com Telephone: (831) 703-4011 Fax: (831) 533-5073 Attorney for Putative John Doe in 2:12-cv-08333-ODW-JC UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA INGENUITY 13, LLC, a Limited Liability Company Organized Under the Laws of the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Plaintiff, V. JOHN DOE, Defendant. Case Number: 2:12-cv-08333-ODW-JC Case Assigned to: District Judge Otis D Wright, II Discovery Referred to: Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Chooljian Case Consolidated with Case Nos:.: 2:12-cv-6636; 2:12-cv-6669; 2:12-cv- 6662; 2:12-cv-6668 DECLARATION OF MORGAN E. PIETZ RE: FEES AND COSTS -|- DECLARATION OF MORGAN E. PIETZ RE: FEES AND COSTS se 2:12-cv-08333-ODW-JC Document 102 Filed 04/05/13 Page 2of4 Page ID #:228 DECLARATION OF MORGAN E. PIETZ RE: FEES AND COSTS 1. I am an attorney duly licensed by the State Bar of California and admitted to the state and federal Courts of the State of California. This declaration is made to substantiate the fees and costs previously requested. See ECF No. 52 at ole 2, I am lead counsel for the putative defendant in /ngenuity 13, LLC v. John Doe, C.D. Cal. No. 12-cv-8333-ODW-JC. 2. I graduated from USC Gould School of Law in 2008 and have been licensed and admitted to practice as an attorney in the State of California since December, 2008. 4. I previously worked as an associate in the Los Angeles office of a large global law firm, Paul Hastings, LLP. The focus of the work I did there was intellectual property, primarily copyright, trademark, trade secret, and anti-trust. Just before I left Paul Hastings, my billing rate was approximately $450 per hour. During my second and third years of law school, during the school years, I worked as a clerk in the legal and business affairs departments of several motion picture and television studios, where I focused on intellectual property and entertainment issues. 5. In the fall of 2010, I founded The Pietz Law Firm. I continue to focus primarily on copyright, trademark, trade secret and entertainment matters, mainly litigation. My billing rate during the pendency of the proceedings before this Court was $300 an hour, which is the figure used to calculate the total requested attorney’s fees. 6. I have determined that my billing rate is reasonable by consulting three sources: (i) the “Laffey Matrix” issued by the United State Department of Justice; (11) the “Adjusted Laffey Matrix,” which is a similar measure used by private law firms; and (111) a recent survey of hourly billing rates published by the San Francisco Daily Journal. fp According to the Department of Justice’s Laffey Matrix, a true and 2 DECLARATION OF MORGAN E. PIETZ RE: FEES AND COSTS se 2:12-cv-08333-ODW-JC Document 102 Filed 04/05/13 Page3of4 Page ID #:229 correct copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit A, for the year June 1, 2012 to May 31, 2013, the benchmark for an attorney with 4-7 years experience (such as me) is $290 per hour. See Viveros v. Donahoe, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 46867 (C.D. Cal. Mar. 27, 2013) (Morrow, J.) (noting that “The Laffey Matrix reports that. . .a reasonable rate for an attorney with four to seven years of experience is $290 an hour [fn 31]” but explaining in footnote 31 that “The court's experience suggests that these average rates are somewhat low for the Los Angeles legal community.”) 8. According to the “Adjusted Laffey Matrix’”’, a true and correct copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit B, prepared not by the DOJ, but by private litigants after reviewing DOJ methodology, the rate for a lawyer with 4-7 years experience is $383 per hour. See, Kempf v. Barrett Bus. Servs., No. C-06-3161 SC, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89447 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 20, 2007) (finding attorneys’ requested fees reasonable when compared to rates in the Adjusted Laffey Matrix). _) According to the August 10, 2012, edition of the San Francisco Daily Journal, a true and correct copy of which 1s attached hereto as Exhibit C, the reasonable hourly rate for attorneys in the Los Angeles area is significantly higher than the rate suggested by the Laffey Matrix. According to this survey, the 2012 average billing rate in the Los Angeles market was $550 per hour for an associate, up from $516 per hour in 2011. 10. I have significant skill and experience dealing with this type of case and with Prenda Law, Inc. in particular. I estimate that I represent approximately 50+ John Doe defendants in similar actions, including several other cases that have been filed by the same plaintiffs’ attorneys, Prenda Law, Inc. 11. Based on my (1) big-firm experience, (11) sustained focus on intellectual property issues, (111) practical experience litigating this particular type of case, and (iv) with reference to the fee benchmarks noted above, I believe that my current billing rate of $300 per hour is reasonable, if not on the low end for an attorney with my skill and experience in these types of cases. 3 DECLARATION OF MORGAN E. PIETZ RE: FEES AND COSTS se 2:12-cv-08333-ODW-JC Document 102 Filed 04/05/13 Page 4of4 Page ID #:229 12. Ihave reasonably expended 120.50 hours in defense of this action. A true and correct copy of my time billing records for this case to date are attached hereto as Exhibit D. At $300 an hour, that means total legal fees of $36,150.00. 13. In addition, I have incurred $2,226.26 in costs in connection with this action, all as detailed in Exhibit D. 14. In addition to my own time, I also engaged my colleague Mr. Nicholas Ranallo of the Ranallo Law Office to assist me at the two evidentiary hearings held on the sanctions issue. I viewed Mr. Ranallo’s help as invaluable, due to his long history in dealing with Mr. Gibbs and Prenda Law in a variety of cases in the Northern District of California (where Prenda has been filing cases for longer). Further, one challenge in preparing for the evidentiary hearings was that its was very difficult to predict what Prenda and its associated lawyers were going to say, so I wanted assistance to help rebut any statements that did not comport with reality. As detailed in the accompanying Declaration of Nicholas Ranallo, a true and correct copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit E, the total for his time and costs to assist at the two hearings was $1950 for attorney time, and $333.60 in costs. 15. My legal fees and costs together amount to $38,376.26. Adding that together with Mr. Ranallo’s fees and costs of $2283.60 works out to a grand total of attorneys’ fees and costs requested of $40,659.86. See ECF No. 52 at pp. 30-32. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that the foregoing is true and correct. Respectfully submitted, DATED: April 5, 2013 Executed this day at Manhattan Beach, California by: /s/ Morgan E. Pietz Morgan E. Pietz, Declarant 4 DECLARATION OF MORGAN E. PIETZ RE: FEES AND COSTS