6. Reasonableness of Requested Compensation

GSMOL claims its costs for participating in this proceeding totaled $43,334.93.⁵ GSMOL notes that it did not prevail on all issues, yet did provide a substantial contribution to the final decision.

GSMOL requests $43,334.93 for its participation, as follows:

254.176 hours professional time, at $150 per hour	$ 38,125.00
Expert Consultant fee for Barkovich and Yap	$1,000
Transcripts, Copies & Duplication	$1,806.61
Courier and Postage	$1,446.12
Legislative Intent Research	$ 957.20
Sub-total (other)	$ 5,209.93
Total Request	$ 43,334.937

6.1. Hours Claimed

GSMOL documented the claimed hours by presenting a daily breakdown of hours with a brief description of each activity. Our review of the billing records shows that 188.25 hours were spent on professional activities and 8.0 hours on travel and compensation related time. GSMOL did not provide us with a detailed breakdown of time allocated by each issue it addressed, so it is necessary for us to make that allocation. In our judgment, 10 hours were associated GSMOL's presentation of the history contained in D.98-12-097 for which we find GSMOL did not make a substantial contribution. We also remove 3.0 hours of time associated with Scharf discussing the case with the media.⁸ GSMOL reported travel and compensation request preparation hours separately from professional time, but charged these hours at the full hourly rate, which we discuss below. With those adjustments, the resultant hours (175.25 professional, 8.0 travel/compensation) are reasonable.

6.2. Hourly Rate

GSMOL requests an hourly rate of $150 for professional work performed during 1998 through July 2001 by its attorney, Benjamin H. Scharf. This is the first time we are setting a rate for Scharf. Scharf has been practicing law since 1972. This is the third time he has appeared before the Commission. All three appearances related to mobilehome parks. GSMOL states a $150/hour rate is below that which would ordinarily be charged to clients for this level of service. GSMOL states that a "market" or comparable rate would approximate $250/hour. We agree that Scharf's legal experience warrants at least the "discounted" $150/hour rate. We adopt $150/hour as the billing rate for Scharf for 1998-2001.

Our normal practice is to compensate at half the full hourly rate time spent on travel or preparation of the intervenor compensation request. (D.98-04-059, 79 CPUC2d 628, 688.) Therefore, we reduce the hourly rate by one-half, consistent with past Commission practice for travel time and for preparation of this compensation request.

GSMOL requests reimbursement for a $1,000 "expert consultant fee" from Barkovich and Yap, an energy and utility regulatory consultant but no documentation or information regarding the expert were provided. When queried about the charge by the ALJ, Scharf indicated only that the $1,000 fee was for approximately seven hours of telephonic advice. Scharf later stated that Ms. Yap and her firm were identified as the experts who were familiar with the technical issues surrounding this type of proceeding. Without written documentation about the services provided, we cannot evaluate whether any substantial contribution derived from this consultation. Without further documentation, we cannot allow this cost.

6.3 Cost for Substitute Counsel

At the time scheduled for the PHC, Scharf had a pre-scheduled vacation. He retained the services of Austin Comstock, Esq., a Santa Cruz attorney with many years of trial experience. Scharf claims that Comstock has substantial experience as an arbitrator in mobilehome park rent control cases, under the Santa Cruz County ordinance. Scharf believes that Comstock's should be compensated for his fees, $1,006, or at the very least for the time that Scharf would have been compensated for the time he would have spent at the PHC.

Comstock included time spent with Scharf, preparation hours, three hours at the PHC and a "post mortem" with Scharf, and $6.00 parking for a total of $1,006. He charged GSMOL $500 for one hour to prepare for the PHC and $500 for the one hour "post mortem." Had Scharf attended the hearing we would have compensated Scharf for five hours travel at $75/hour and three hours hearing time at $150/hour and parking at $6.00, a total of $831.00, the reasonable charge for the services provided. We will allow $831.00 for substitute counsel costs.

6.4 Other Costs

GSMOL originally stated that other costs necessary for participation in this proceeding were out-of-pocket expenses for copies, postage, and research amounting to $4,209.93. $957.20 was for legislative intent research which we noted was of value to us in arriving at our decision.

GSMOL reduced its request for postage and courier costs reimbursement from $1,446.12 to $703.02, based on actual receipts provided. Other costs documented were out-of-pocket expenses for copies, postage, and Federal Express delivery of $352.85, resulting in $1,055.87 for these costs. The total of $2,013.07 is reasonable considering the duration and substance of the proceeding.