Opinion ID: 2995667
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Money Only Offer: The Defendants

Text: agree to pay the Plaintiff a lump sum of $37,500 in full and complete settlement of any and all claims which arose out of the plaintiff’s employment with Milwaukee County. II. Alternative Offer: Job and Money: The Defendants agree to employ the Plaintiff as a Human Service Worker, pay range $24,000-$39,000. . . . The Defendants would also pay $18,000 in a lump sum to the Plaintiff and his attorney. Thus, Payne had a choice: $37,500 on the table, or the lesser amount of $18,000 plus a new job with Milwaukee County. He elected to accept neither one. By making this choice, he accepted the risk that if he ended up winning at trial a damage award lower than what was offered, his entitlement to post-offer costs and attorneys’ fees under 42 U.S.C. sec. 1988 would be lost. Not only that: he would also be saddled with Milwaukee County’s post-offer costs. This is precisely what happened, as the jury’s verdict in Payne’s favor after the second trial was for only $10,400, a lower amount than either judgment option in Milwaukee County’s Rule 68 offer. After the verdict, the three lawyers who had represented Payne filed motions for their fees, all relying on sec. 1988. John Uelman spent 104.5 hours working on the case prior to the February 12, 1996, Offer of Judgment, and the district court awarded him the full amount he claimed up to that date, plus certain costs. Robert Sutton also asked for fees in the amount of $75,550 for work done from January 25, 1997, through December 21, 1999. A third attorney, Larraine McNamara-McGraw was going to seek fees of $31,200 in connection with the appeal after the first trial, but she failed to file her motion in time, and she is not involved in this appeal. The appeal thus concerns only Attorney Sutton’s right to fees, on Payne’s side. Milwaukee County opposed these requests insofar as they covered fees for work done after February 12, 1996. (At one point they mention the date February 9, 1996, but the Magistrate Judge ignored this, and so shall we.) Not only that, but Milwaukee County also sought to have its own costs and attorneys’ fees taxed against Payne, once again because the final award Payne received was less than the amount they had offered. The district court (Magistrate Judge Gorence, sitting by consent) decided that Milwaukee County was entitled to both its costs pursuant to Rule 68 and its attorneys’ fees, while Sutton was not entitled to anything.