John Mason Kessler v. Associates Financial Services Company of Hawaii, Inc.

This case has come back to us after an earlier remand. Kessler v. Associates Financial Services Company of Hawaii, 573 F.2d 577 (9th Cir. 1977). On remand the district court awarded appellant maximum statutory damages of $1,000, attorney’s fees of $2,000, and court costs.

This appeal presents two significant issues: (1) whether a plaintiff represented by a legal services organization in an action under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), 15 U.S.C. § 1601 et seq., is entitled to an award of attorney fees under 15 U.S.C. § 1640 (a)(3); and (2) whether the district court abused its discretion in awarding plaintiff’s counsel $2,000 in fees, a sum appellant contends is unreasonably low in light of the effort expended and the results achieved by counsel.

Under 15 U.S.C. § 1640 (a)(3) a “creditor who fails in connection with any consumer credit transaction to disclose to any person ... required [consumer credit information] is liable to that person ... in the case of any successful action .. . [for] a reasonable attorney’s fee as determined by the court.” The district court awarded attorney’s fees even though appellant was represented without charge by Legal Aid Services of Hawaii, a…