2009-02-02_County_of_Hawaii_v_Coupe_Family_and_Robert_Nigel_Richards_-_Memorandum_in_Opposition_to_Defendant-Appellant's_Request_for_Statutory_Damages

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l II. DISCUSSION A. No Attorneys' Fees For Unsuccessful Claims. Coupe has the burden of establishing that they are entitled to an award of reasonable attorney's fees. Hamada v. Wescott, 102 Hawaii 210, 217, 74 P.3d 33, 40 (2003) (given the American Rule, party seeking attorneys' fees has the burden of establishing that applicable statute expressly applies to allow an award of reasonable attorneys' fees). Porter v. Hu, 116 Hawai'i 42, 67-68, 169 P.3d 994, 1019-20 (App.2007) held as follows: In Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 103 S.Ct. 1933, 76 L.Ed.2d 40 (1983), the United States Supreme Court addressed the issue of`whether a partially prevailing plaintiff may recover an attorney's fee for legal services on unsuccessful claims.' Id. at 426, 103 S.Ct. 1933.According to Hensley, the trial j court must determine (1) whether or not unsuccessful claims are related to successful claims, see id at 434, 103 S.C4 1933, and(2) whether or not `the plaintiff achieved a level of success that makes the hours reasonably expended a satisfactory basis for making a fee award 1.]'Id Unsuccessful claims are deemed unrelated if they are `distinctly different claims for relief that are based on different facts and legal theories.'Id Thus, even where the claims are brought against the same defendants, counsel's work on one claim may be unrelated to his or her work on another claim,'id at 434-3S, 103 S.0. 1933, work on such an unsuccessful claim cannot be deemed to have been expended in pursuit of the ultimate result achieved,'id at 43S, 103 S C. 1933 (internal quotation marks and citations omitted), and `the hours spent on the unsuccessful claim should be excluded in considering the amount of a reasonable fee.'Id at 440, 103 S.Ct. 1933. On the other hand, if`the plaintiffs claims for relief involve a common core of facts or are based on related legal theories and much of counsel's time is devoted generally to the litigation as a whole, making it difficult to divide the hours expended on a claim-by-claim basis,' id. at 435, 103 S.Ct. 1933, `such a lawsuit i cannot be viewed as a series of discrete claims.' Id. In that situation, 'a plaintiff who has won substantial relief should not have his or her attorney's fee reduced simply because the trial court did not adopt each contention raised.' Id. at 440, II 103 S.Ct. 1933. As to the required level of success, `where a plaintiff has obtained excellent results, his or her attorney should recover a fully compensatory fee' because 'litigants in good faith may raise alternative legal grounds for a desired outcome, and the court's rejection of or failure to reach certain grounds is not a sufficient reason for reducing a fee.' Id. at 435, 103 S.Ct. 1933. `If, on the other hand, a 4