How to Lodestar

In an appeal from a reduction of an attorney-fee award in an unpaid-overtime case, the Fifth Circuit affirmed. Among other matters, it noted the interplay of the required “lodestar” calculation with other factors to be considered later in the analysis: “As to the fifteen-percent reduction of the lodestar under the Johnson actors, the magistrate judge was careful to avoid so-called ‘double counting’ to the extent that a factor was already accounted for in the initial lodestar determination. Among the factors that were not already subsumed by the lodestar calculation, the magistrate judge emphasized that the success achieved is the most important factor and then also considered the novelty of the issues and preclusion of other employment.” Rodney v. Elliott Security Solutions, No. 20-30251 (April 1, 2021) (unpublished).