A federal judge in Massachusetts has granted Novi Footwear International Co.’s request for sanctions against another footwear company represented by Dechert. The court, however, only awarded fees for one of the discovery delays raised by the plaintiff’s counsel, Ice Miller, reducing the award by nearly 60% of the original request.
In a July 15 opinion, U.S. District Chief Magistrate Judge Donald L. Cabell granted Novi’s request for sanctions and ordered Earth OpCo and its owner, Windsong Capital Management, to pay $34,000. The suit involved a breach-of-contract claim over unpaid footwear products.
The plaintiff’s counsel, Ice Miller, documented 65.2 hours spent over six months preparing and litigating the second motion to compel. The court found this to be a reasonable number of hours and concurred that the requested hourly rates, ranging from $395 to $693, were lower than those approved in a 2023 case. For more details, refer to the original article.