- 16 -
motion for appellate attorney’s fees under section 6673. We
denied the motion for reconsideration by order dated November 18,
2005, which we incorporate by reference and reproduce as Appendix
C. We separately denied the PH petitioners’ motion for fees
under section 6673 “[f]or the reasons discussed in our Order
dated September 8, 2005” (App. B).
The Hongsermeiers claim attorney’s fees of $276,434.75,
based on (1) 930.32 hours devoted to the appeal and 278.75 hours
devoted to the fee request,13 and (2) rates ranging from $50 to
$300 per hour. They have not requested any expenses other than
attorney’s fees.
The PH petitioners claim attorney’s fees of $494,514.75,
based on (1) 1,157.65 hours devoted to the appeal and 734.1 hours
devoted to the fee request, and (2) rates ranging from $90 to
$460 per hour.14 They also claim other expenses of $20,307.15.
13 Respondent does not dispute that fees relating to work on
a fee request (“fees for fees” or “fees on fees”) are potentially
recoverable under sec. 7430. See, e.g., Huffman v. Commissioner,
978 F.2d 1139, 1149 (9th Cir. 1992), affg. in part and revg. in
part on other grounds T.C. Memo. 1991-144.
14 Both fee requests include legal assistant or paralegal
fees. Although sec. 7430 does not specifically provide for the
recovery of such fees, this Court has routinely awarded them,
see, e.g., Foothill Ranch Co. Pship. v. Commissioner, 110 T.C.
94, 101-102 (1998), and we have no reason to believe that the
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit would take a different
approach. Cf. Commissioner, INS v. Jean, 496 U.S. 154, 163 n.10
(1990) (Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) case; Court’s
hypothetical refers to paralegal fees even though the EAJA, from
which sec. 7430 derives, does not specifically refer to such
fees); Sorenson v. Mink, 239 F.3d 1140, 1144 (9th Cir. 2001)
(continued...)
Page: Previous 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 NextLast modified: May 25, 2011