The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has slammed two Texas lawyers and their client in a recent decision, writing that it was “stunned” by the trio's $130,000 attorney fee request in connection with a $1,000 Fair Debt Collection Practices Act award concerning a $107.29 unpaid water bill.

According to the decision in Davis v. Credit Bureau of the South, Crystal Davis filed the suit in an Eastern District of Texas federal court, alleging that the debt collection agency had violated the federal debt collection law, with its fee-shifting provision, in contacting her over the water bill because it has misrepresented itself as a “credit bureau,” which it isn't.

A U.S. magistrate judge later ruled in Davis' favor, awarding her $1,000 in statutory damages after finding the defendant had violated federal law. Davis later filed an opposed motion requesting $130,410 in attorney fees based on her status as a prevailing party in the litigation.