City of Unalaska v. National Union Fire Insurance Company

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF ALASKA
CITY OF UNALASKA,
Plaintiff,
v.
NATIONAL UNION FIRE
INSURANCE COMPANY,
Defendant.
Case No. 3:21-cv-00096-SLG
ORDER RE MOTIONS FOR PREJUDGMENT INTEREST
AND ATTORNEY’S FEES
Before the Court is Plaintiff City of Unalaska’s (“the City’s”) unopposed
Motion for Prejudgment Interest at Docket 30 and unopposed Motion for Attorney’s
Fees at Docket 31. Oral argument was not requested and was not necessary to
the Court’s determination.
DISCUSSION
I. Prejudgment Interest
The City moves for prejudgment interest, the award of which is governed by
state law in diversity cases.1 Under Alaska law, “‘[a]n award of prejudgment
interest should be denied only to avoid an injustice,’ such as a double recovery.”2
1 See In re Exxon Valdez, 484 F.3d 1098, 1101 (9th Cir. 2007).
2 Cole v. Bartels, 4 P.3d 956, 958 (Alaska 2000) (quoting Tookalook Sales & Serv. v. McGahan,
846 P.2d 127, 129 (Alaska 1993)).
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The Court finds that awarding prejudgment interest is appropriate here as doing
so would not result in a double recovery and Defendant National Union Fire
Insurance Company (“National Union”) has not opposed the instant motion.3
Alaska Statute 09.30.070, which governs the award of prejudgment interest,
provides that prejudgment interest generally “accrues from the day process is
served on the defendant or the day the defendant received written notification that
an injury has occurred and that a claim may be brought against the defendant for
that injury, whichever is earlier.”4 The statute sets the rate of prejudgment interest
at “three percentage points above the 12th Federal Reserve District discount rate
in effect on January 2 of the year in which the judgment or decree is entered.”5
Here, the Court entered judgment for the City in the amount of $515,631.67
on March 21, 2022,6 and the applicable prejudgment interest rate is 3.25%.7 While
the City suggests that November 5, 2019, the date on which it formally submitted
3 See Cole, 4 P.3d at 958–59 (“The party opposing a prejudgment interest award bears the
burden to show that a double recovery would result; otherwise prejudgment interest is awarded
as a matter of course.”).
4 Alaska Stat. § 09.30.070(b).
5 Id. § 09.30.070(a).
6 See Docket 29 (Judgment). The City appears to assert, erroneously, that the judgment was
entered on April 1, 2022. See Docket 30 at 2.
7 The 12th Federal Reserve District discount rate on January 2, 2022 was 0.25%. See Discount
Rate, Fed. Rsrv. Bank of S.F., https://www.frbsf.org/banking/discount-window/discount-rate/
(last visited Apr. 27, 2022).
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its claim to National Union, could be used as the date of accrual, it ultimately
requests that the Court use December 16, 2019, the date on which National Union
denied coverage under the Computer Fraud Insuring Agreement.8 Using
December 16, 2019 as the accrual date, the resulting amount of prejudgment
interest is $37,923.65.
II. Attorney’s Fees
The City also moves for an award of attorney’s fees.9 Because this is a
diversity action, the award of attorney’s fees is governed by Alaska Rule of Civil
Procedure 82.10 In cases that result in a money judgment, Rule 82(b)(1) provides
a schedule that sets the prevailing party’s fee award at a percentage of the
judgment and any prejudgment interest. When, as here, a case is contested
without trial, Rule 82 sets the fee award as 18% of the first $25,000 of the judgment
and any prejudgment interest, 8% of the next $75,000, 6% of the next $400,000,
and 2% of any amount over $500,000.
The Court has entered judgment in the amount of $515,631.67, and as
discussed above, the Court will also award prejudgment interest in the amount of
$37,923.65, resulting in a total of $553,555.32. Applying Rule 82(b)(1)’s fee
8 Docket 30 at 2 (citing Docket 1-1 (Compl.) at 10, ¶ 47).
9 Docket 31.
10 See Alaska Rent-A-Car, Inc. v. Avis Budget Grp., Inc., 738 F.3d 960, 973–74 (9th Cir. 2013).
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schedule to this total yields a fee award of $35,571.11. Neither the City nor
National Union has proposed that the Court vary this award under Rule 82(b)(3),
and the Court is not inclined to do so.
CONCLUSION
The City’s motions at Docket 30 and Docket 31 are GRANTED. The City is
awarded prejudgment interest in the amount of $37,923.65 and attorney’s fees in
the amount of $35,571.11. The Clerk of Court is directed to update the final
judgment accordingly.
DATED this 28th day of April, 2022, at Anchorage, Alaska.
/s/ Sharon L. Gleason
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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