NOT FOR PUBLICATION



IN THE TERRITORIAL COURT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS



DIVISION OF ST. CROIX: KINGSHILL



EVANS OLIVER,

Plaintiff, CIV. NO. 566/1982

Vv. ACTION FOR DAMAGES



ABDUL IHWEIL and ISAM YUSUF

d/b/a SAM'S SUPERMARKET,



Defendants.



ee ee ee See Set eet eget ne See Nee ee



DEANA M. BOLLINGS, ESQ.

46-47 Company Street

Christiansted, St. Croix

U. S. Virgin Islands 00820

Attorney for Plaintiff



EDWARD J. OCEAN, ESQ.



26 Company Street

Christiansted, St. Croix

U. S. Virgin Islands 00820

Attorney for Defendants



SILVERLIGHT, J.



MEMORANDUM OPINION

May 16, 1984)



This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff's

application for an award of costs and attorney's fees after

Judgment was rendered in a bench trial.



FACTS



In September of 1981 plaintiff visited Sam's Supermarket

to purchase certain items. While waiting in the check-out

line and as plaintiff approached the cash register to pay for



his selections, defendant MIhweil, an employee of the

Oliver v. Ihweil and Yusuf

CIVIL NO. 566/1982

Page 2



supermarket, confronted plaintiff, and in the presence of

others accused plaintiff of stealing items from the store.

Defendant Ihweil thrust his hand into plaintiff's pocket and

retrieved a measuring tape, which belonged to plaintiff. No

evidence that anyone else believed the accusation was adduced.



At the conclusion of the trial, upon its merits before

the Court, plaintiff was awarded One ($1.00) Dollar nominal

damages and One Hundred ($100.00) punative damages.



DISCUSSION



At issue before the Court is the amount of costs and

attorney's fees, if any, to be awarded to plaintiff£.

5 V.I.C. §541 provides that certain costs may be awarded to

the prevailing party in a civil action. Plaintiff has

included in the Certificate of Costs a charge of Six ($6.00)

Dollars for "notarizations". We find no authority in §541 for

the award of such costs. A notarization is an office expense,

and not properly awardable as costs. Plaintiff has also

requested reimbursement for witness fees on two (2) separate

dates, January 27, 1983 and April 25, 1984. The Court will

disallow witness fees for the witness' appearance on January

27, 1983, for on said date a continuance was granted at



plaintiff's request. This Court will not tax a cost against

Oliver v. Ihweil and Yusuf

CIVIL NO. 566/1982

Page 3



defendant when the continuance was granted to accommodate

plaintiff. The other items of costs claimed are authorized by

the statute and accordingly, the Court will award to plaintiff

costs in the amount of Fifty ($50.00) Dollars.



The Court next considers plaintiff request for attorney's

fees. The criteria for consideration in determining [an award

of] attorney's fees are the time and labor required, the

novelty and difficulty of the questions involved, the skill

requisite properly to conduct the cause, the customary charges

of the bar for similar services, the amount involved in the

controversy, the benefits resulting to the client from the

services, and the contingency or certainty of the



compensation. Lucerne Investment Company v. Estate Belvedere,



Inc., 7 V.I. 242, 411 F.2d 1205 (3rd Cir. 1969). Lindy Bros.



Builders, Inc. of Phila. v. American Radiator & Standard



Sanitary Corp., 487 F.2d 161 (C.A. 3rd 1973) provides this



jurisdiction with guidelines to determine an award of

attorneys' fees. One way for the Court to ascertain the value

of an attorney's services is to review affidavits submitted by

the attorney, containing the amount of time expended in

preparation and presentation of the claim. The affidavit



submitted by plaintiff's counsel does not set forth with

Oliver v. Ihweil and Yusuf

CIVIL NO. 566/1982

Page 4



particularity what services were provided to plaintiff. The

affidavit lists 3.917 hours expended in conferences and

interviews with the client, but allows us no guidance in

determining how plaintiff arrived at this unorthodox figure.

Also, the affidavit requests 1.25 hours of reimbursement for a

continuance which was requested by and granted for the benefit

of plaintiff. 13.75 hours is requested for research and

preparation of documents. Since the affidavit is not

itemized, the Court must assume that at least some of the time

expended in preparation of documents includes interrogatories

drafted by plaintiff. Ninety-seven (97) interrogatories were

propounded to defendant, most of which contained subparts.

Many of the questions addressed issues which were at best

collateral to, and at worst totally foreign to the theories of

recovery relied upon by plaintiff. The time spent in

preparation of many of these questions was simply

unnecessary.



The policy behind 5 V.I.c. §541 is not [necessarily] one

of total indemnification, but only to award a prevailing party

a fair and reasonable portion of his attorney's fees. Bevan

v. Triumpho, 17 V.I. 144 (Terr. Ct., Div. St. T and st. J.,

1980). Plaintiff concedes that the issues presented in this



action were neither novel nor complex. On the basis of the

Oliver v.



Thweil and Yusuf



CIVIL NO. 566/1982



Page 5



foregoing,



following the



criteria



established



in



Lucerne



Investment,



supra,



set forth in



and the guidelines



Lindy



Bros.,



supra,



this Court feels that an award of Three Hundred



Seventy-Five



($375.00)



Dollars



for



attorney's



fees



is



reasonable.



ENTER



Nae



IRWIN J.° SILVERLIGHT,



Judge



DATED: May 16,



1984