Human Rights Defense Center v. Maine County Commissioners Association Self Funded Risk Management Pool

Superior Court of Maine·Decided December 19, 2023·No. KENcv-21-131·Unpublished

Opinion

STATE OF MAINE SUPERIOR COURT KENNEBEC, ss. CIVIL ACTION DOCKET NO. CV-21-131

HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENSE )

CENTER, )

)

Plaintiff, )

) ORDER

V. )

)

MAINE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS )

ASSOCIATION SELF-FUNDED RISK )

MANAGEMENT POOL, )

)

Defendant )

Pursuant to M.R.Civ.P 54 and this Court's December 1, 2022 Order, Plaintiff has moved for an award of $140,327.63 in attorney fees and $3,472.69 in costs and expenses. For the reasons, discussed below, Plaintiff's motion is GRANTED, in part, with modifications as outlined below.

DISCUSSION

In this case, the court was called upon to resolve two related questions: whether Defendant, the Maine County Commissioners Association Self-Funded Risk Management Pool ("Risk Pool") unlawfully withheld documents responsive to a Freedom of Access Act request made by Plaintiff Human Rights Defense Center; and, whether the refusal to produce these documents was made in bad faith.

In this court's December 1, 2022, order, both of these questions were answered in the affirmative. This court was affirmed by the Law Court on August 22, 2023. Both this court and the Law Court concluded that the Risk Pool's response constituted a bad-faith refusal. In addition, both this court and the Law Court acknowledged that this was the first application of the Freedom of Access Act attorney fee provision. The results in this case, therefore, served not only to clarify and enforce the law for the parties themselves

but also to provide guidance to all people in Maine who might hold, or might seek, public records.

After reviewing the submissions of the parties, cited cases, and recent federal cases from the District of Maine, the court finds the following hourly rates are reasonable, given the qualifications, skill, and experience of the attorneys:

Zachary L. Heiden: $400 , Carol Garvan: $350 Anahita Sotoohi: $220 Plaintiff seeks reimbursement for 317 hours of legal work, supported by detailed time records. The fact that this amount of time was required to resolve this matter is ridiculous. However, the blame for this rests squarely with the Defendant. Given the intransigence of the Defendant, and the public interest at stake, the number of hours expended was reasonable. The court also finds unpersuasive the quibbling advanced by the Defendant in opposition to the number of hours billed. In this court's view it is reasonable, considering the nature and tenure of this litigation, that the Plaintiff be reimbursed for the hours expended for the entire litigation and that more than one attorney may have participated in various aspects of this litigation.

Plaintiff seeks an additional and modest amount of $3,472.69 in litigation costs and expenses. The court funds that this amount is a reasonable, and compensable, amount.

Finally, the Plaintiff seeks a 1.2 lodestar enhancement, based on their exceptional success litigating a precedent-setting public interest case. Fee enhancements are the exception rather than the rule and there is limited precedent for such enhancements in Maine State courts. Given the public interest involved in this case; the time and hours consumed before resolution; the difficulty of the case; the significance of the result; the

quality of the attorneys' services; and the limited precedent for such an award, the court finds that a 1.15 lodestar enhancement in this case is appropriate.

Due to the lengthy billing records in this case, and the fact that certain time entries have already been reduced for time spent on clerical tasks, the court is unable to calculate the total amount due with any confidence. Therefore, the Plaintiff is ORDERED to submit a calculation of the amount to be awarded based on the findings of this order, with a proposed order, within 21-days of the date of this order. DATED: December 19, 2023

~~~.:-~

Daniel I. Billings, Justice Maine Superior Court

Entered on the Docket:~ )fl )3

STATE OF MAINE SUPERIOR COURT KENNEBEC, ss. CIVIL ACTION DOCKET NO. CV-21-131

HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENSE )

CENTER, )

)

Plaintiff, )

) DECISION AND ORDER

v. )

)

MAINE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS )

ASSOCIATION SELF-FUNDED RISK )

MANAGEMENT POOL, )

)

Defendant )

INTRODUCTION

The matter before the court is a final decision on Plaintiff Human Rights Defense Center's ("HRDC") Freedom of Access Act appeal of the refusal to release certain documents related to the settlement of a case against Kennebec County. The Maine County Commissioners Association Self-Funded Risk Pool ("Risk Pool") has denied the existence of any responsive documents. The court finds that the Risk Pool is in possession of responsive documents and wrongfully refused to release them. Further, the court finds that this refusal was made in bad faith and grants the HRDC's request for reasonable attorney's fees pursuant to 1 M.R.S. § 409(4).

BACKGROUND

The court makes the following factual findings following the evidentiary hearing in this matter that was held on September 29, 2022.

This case arises out of a FOAA request initially made by the HRDC on June 18, 2021. This request, sent by Samantha Beauvais of the HRDC, sought "any documents showing payments disbursed to Jonathan Afandor and/or Attorney John Wall by Kennebec County, Nathan Willhoite and/ or the Maine County Commissioners

Association Self-Funded Risk Management Pool from January 1, 2021 to present. This includes but is not limited to payment documentation relating to the following case: Afanador v. Kennebec County, Case No. 1:20-cv-00235-JDL." (Pl.'s Ex. 2.)

Malcom Ulmer, representative of the Risk Pool, replied to Ms. Beauvais' s email request by stating that he believed that Attorney Peter Marchesi, counsel for Kennebec County, had already provided a copy of the Afanador release document to HRDC. Mr. Ulmer also stated that the settlement amount was $30,000. Mr. Ulmer did not provide any documents with his initial response. The release document, titled "GENERAL RELEASE AND AGREEMENT TO DEFEND, INDEMNIFY AND HOLD HARMLESS," does not state that the settlement amount was $30,000. All it says is that Afanador's case settled for "one dollar and other valuable consideration." (Pl.'s Ex. 7.) No other settlement agreement was produced.

Ms. Beauvais followed up with Mr. Ulmer, asking if the Risk Pool had "any documentation that shows the $30,000 amount." (Pl.'s Ex. 10.) In response, Mr. Ulmer provided a Portland Press Herald article quoting Mr. Ulmer as stating that the case settled for $30,000. Mr. Ulmer provided no other documentation. Mr. Ulmer did not indicate that he was in possession of responsive documents, nor did he assert any claims of privilege. Ms. Beauvais sent another email to Mr. Ulmer on June 21, 2021, where she asked Mr. Ulmer to provide "a copy of the actual agreement that shows $30,000." (Pl.'s Ex. 10.) Mr. Ulmer replied that the settlement agreement previously sent by Attorney Marchesi was "the actual agreement" and stated, "I have already advised you that the settlement amount is $30,000." (Id.) Mr. Ulmer did not produce any documentation showing that the Risk Pool had actually paid $30,000 to settle Mr. Afanador's case.

On July 2, 2021, Attorney Zachary Heiden with the Maine American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sent a letter to Attorney Marchesi and Mr. Ulmer. (Pl.'s Ex. 11.) Attorney

Heiden notified the Risk Pool that the ACLU was representing HRDC in relation to its FOAA request and reiterated the request for documents indicating the amount the Risk Pool actually paid to settle Mr. Afanador's case. (Id.) The letter states that HRDC would interpret a failure to reply as a final denial or refusal pursuant to the FOAA, 1 M.R.S. § 409(1). Attorney Marchesi and Mr. Ulmer both replied by email, on July 3 and July 6, respectively, that there were no more responsive documents. (Pl.'s Ex. 12-13.)

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