Order on motions by plaintiffs seeking requirement of $100,000 appeal brief and nearly $700,000 in attorneys' fees and costs in Lanham Act statutory damages case where both final judgment and order awarding attorneys' fees were entered on default.

We entered an appearance on behalf of certain defendants following the entry of final judgment for purposes of post-trial proceedings, including this motion by plaintiffs, which we opposed.

The court denied the plaintiffs' motion for an appeal bond and drastically cut the attorneys' fee award. The court noted that in light of the fact that "(1) most of the defendants never appeared; (2) the case was resolved on the basis of default judgments; and (3) almost no discovery was taken . . . invoices [submitted by the plaintiffs' law firm McDermott Will & Emery] totaling $834,384.66 for 1,600.50 hours worked are not reasonable. The number of hours billed to this matter is excessive, as is the number of attorneys who performed this work.

"Plaintiffs have not explained why it was necessary to assign five partners, two senior associates, and one junior associate to this matter, given that this case was resolved on the basis of default judgments and no discovery was taken. The Court finds that the number of attorneys and the number of hours expended on this case [by McDermott Will & Emery] was significantly in excess of what was necessary to achieve the same results. . . ."

The underlying decision has been appealed.