Owcp

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Proceedings Before the ALJ

Robinowitz argued that a market rate of $350 per hour was appropriate given his general experience, his consultation with a lawyer who testifies as an attorney’s fee expert, various fee awards he and other attorneys had been granted in the past, fee agreements he had obtained in non-contingent work, and the Laffey1 matrix.2 Respondent Cenex objected that the 1 The matrix is derived from the hourly rates allowed by the district court in Laffey v. Northwest Airlines, Inc., 572 F.Supp. 354 (D.D.C. 1983). 2 More specifically, Robinowitz claimed his normal billing rate was $350 per hour based upon the following: (1) he had been a trial lawyer in private practice in Portland, Oregon since 1969, had represented over 1,000 maritime workers under the LHWCA, and had handled over 500 jury and court trials; (2) he consulted with William Crow, a trial attorney who had testified numerous times as an attorney fee expert, and Crow told 2370 VAN SKIKE v. DIRECTOR, OWCP rate was incommensurate with the relevant prevailing market rate, and argued that recent LHWCA awards established that a figure somewhere between $200 and $235…