Opinion ID: 2314184
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Attorneys' Fees Petitions

Text: As soon as the judgment became final, the battle over attorneys' fees and costs began in earnest. Plaintiffs, through their chief counsel, Ina P. Schiff, moved, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988, for an award of $511,951.00 in attorneys' fees and $203,268.28 in costs. However, no supporting documentation was submitted until nearly two months after the due date fixed by the Court. Most of the attorneys' fees sought by the plaintiffs are attributable to time claimed to have been devoted to the case by Ms. Schiff. The remainder is attributable to hours logged by attorneys in a North Carolina law firm who served as trial counsel and a Rhode Island attorney who was co-counsel with Ms. Schiff at the inception of the case but withdrew shortly thereafter. Violet and Reynolds petitioned for fees in the amounts of $54,168.50 and $198,127.46, respectively. Since the State paid Reynolds' legal expenses, it joined in his request. However, the State does not seek any fees for its own defense because it candidly acknowledges that, although it was represented by counsel at all stages, its interests were served by counsel for the other defendants who wielded the laboring oars. The volume of documents involved, the number of issues raised and the contentiousness of the parties required this Court to conduct hearings on six different dates. The time span was further lengthened when the proceedings were reopened to permit the defendants to present newly discovered evidence with respect to allegations that Ms. Schiff had falsified an affidavit regarding the fees she customarily charged other clients and that certain expenses she claimed were unrelated to this case.