Right on the heels of DAC's release of Herve Caen's statement slamming Bethesda comes another court filing from Interplay.
Interplay is now demanding the Bethesda pay all of its legal fees, including attorneys' fees. Here are some of the relevant excerpts from the filing:
The parties have been embroiled in ongoing disputes because Bethesda has been attempting to stop Interplay from, among other things, continuing to expoit its rights under the APA, specifically its MMOG rights and its distribution of Pre-Existing Games, i.e. Fallout 1, Fallout 2, Brotherhood of Steel and Tactics.
In addition, Bethesda has: (1) attempted to restrict Interplay's design and implementation of the MMOG; (2) attempted to prevent Interplay from distributing Pre-Existing Fallout games, portions of which are permitted under the APA; and (3) attempted to preclude Interplay from issuing press releases or anything related to the Fallout game, not withstanding the fact that Interplay has reserved certain rights to the Fallout Intellectual Property under the terms of the APA.
...
Even after discovery rendered it clear that Bethesda had no evidence to support its Motion, Bethesda continued to press for an injunction. Bethesda knew it could not prevail on the Motion because it could not establish any of the elements required for the granting of a preliminary injunction. In fact, in making the Motion Bethesda employed the incorrect legal standard for a preliminary injuntion in the Fourt Circuit; (Motion, p. 11). Further, Bethesda was unable to demonstrate any actual confusion or likelihood of confusion with respect to Interplay's permissible use of the Fallout trademark or any irreparable hard., Bethesda nevertheless persisted with the knowledge that protracted litigation would be costly to Interplay and take its focus off development of MMOG. Interplay was thereby required to expend substantial amounts of time ande legal expense in order to defend against Bethesda's unsuccessful Motion, which is exactly what Bethesda intended.
On December 10, 2009, after considering the pleadings, the evidence submitted after the hearing and oral arguments of counsel, this Court denied Bethesda's Motion in its entirety. At the hearing, the Court found that Bethesda could not establish even one of the elements required for the granting of a preliminary injunction.
Interplay wants "an award of its litigation costs, including attorneys' fees with respect to its successful defeat of Bethesda's Motion." Interplay then cites a myriad of different court case precedents to establish that they deserve this money. Here are the attorneys' fees that they want reimbursed, organized by law firm:
From The Gersh Law Firm, Inc.
| Attorney |
Status |
Year Graduated From Law School |
Total Hours |
Current Rate |
Requested Lodestar |
| Jeffrey F. Gersh |
Principal |
1979 |
192.5 |
$475.00 |
$91,437.50 |
| Lawrence P. Brennan, Jr. |
Of-Counsel |
1991 |
15.1 |
$435.00
|
$6,568.20 |
| Rochelle A. Herzog |
Senior Counsel |
1985 |
85.9 |
$395.00 |
$33,930.50 |
| Tracy L. Baughman |
Associate |
2005 |
15 |
$275.00 |
$4,125.00 |
| Totals |
|
|
308.50 |
|
$136,061.50 |
From Bregman, Berbert, Schwartz & Gilday
| Attorney |
Status |
Year Graduated Law School |
Total Hours |
Current Rate |
Requested Lodestar |
| Geoffrey Hervey |
Partner
|
1985 |
53.7 |
$310.00 |
$16,647.00 |
From Interplay's General Counsel
| Attorney |
Status |
Year Graduated Law School |
Total Hours |
Current Rate |
Requested Lodestar |
| Chris Nelson |
General Counsel |
1990 |
154.6 |
$285/hr. |
$44,061.00 |
| |
|
|
125.2 |
$285/hr. |
$35,682.00 |
It should be noted that Chris Nelson "has reduced his hours to 125.2 and request a lodestar award in the amount of $35,382.00 rather than $44,061.00."
In addition to the attorney's fees (which, by the way, indicate that I am seriously in the wrong line of work), Interplay also reminds the court that it want the $9,539.38 it laid out in the Bill of Costs that it submitted a while ago.
The totals?
Counsel have attested under oath to the fact that the bills are "correct and [have] been necessarily incurred in the case and that services for which fees have been charged were actually and necessarily performed."...Therefore, in the interest of equity and justice, Interplay request reimbursement of costs in the amount of $9,539.38 and attorney's fees of $188,390.50.
So at the end of it all, Interplay is demanding around $200,000 in legal fee reimbursement from Bethesda. |
