McDonald v. McCarthy

139 F.R.D. 70, 1991 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13256, 1991 WL 202585
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedSeptember 20, 1991
DocketCiv. A. No. 89-0319
StatusPublished

This text of 139 F.R.D. 70 (McDonald v. McCarthy) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McDonald v. McCarthy, 139 F.R.D. 70, 1991 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13256, 1991 WL 202585 (E.D. Pa. 1991).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

SHAPIRO, District Judge.

Pending before this court is the motion of plaintiff’s attorney for an additional award of attorneys fees and costs against defendants pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988 and 43 Pa.Stat.Ann. § 1425 (Purdon’s Supp. 1990). Plaintiff was the prevailing party on claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

In his original motion for award of attorney’s fees and costs, plaintiff sought an award for fees incurred through March 1, 1990. On June 27, 1990, plaintiff filed a petition for additional award of attorney’s fees and costs through June 26, 1990. On September 12, 1990, the court granted plaintiff’s motions and awarded plaintiff $50,213.28 for attorney’s fees and $5,753.82 for costs. After reducing the lodestar by fifteen percent (15%) to account for hours spent on issues in which the plaintiff was not the prevailing party, the court increased the lodestar by five percent (5%).

Since June 26, 1990, plaintiff’s counsel has attempted to eollec,t on the judgments and award of fees and costs, compelled defendants to post security to stay execution pending appeal, and defended against appellant’s contentions in the Court of Appeals. On May 14, 1991, plaintiff's counsel [72]*72filed the pending motion for additional counsel fees in the amount of $20,659.80. (The lodestar amount of $19,676.00 represents 132.4 hours of legal services, from June 27, 1990 through May 14, 1991, billed at the firm’s regular hourly rates. Consistent with the court’s previous Memorandum and Order dated September 12, 1990, plaintiff requests that this lodestar amount be augmented by a multiplier of 5%.)

On April 17, 1991, the Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s order. 932 F.2d 960. A certified judgment in lieu of a mandate was issued on May 9, 1991. The Court of Appeals expressly stated, “the parties shall bear their own costs on this appeal.” Based on the Court of Appeals’ Order that each party bear its own costs, defendants claim that plaintiff is not entitled to an award of attorney’s fees or other costs incurred by reason of the appeal and that plaintiff’s request is untimely since it was to be filed no later than May 1, 1991. Fed.R.App.P. 39(d).

Plaintiff’s motion for additional attorney’s fees was not untimely even though Fed.R.App.P. 39(d) requires that an itemized and verified bill of costs be filed with the Clerk within 14 days. Read in context with Rules 39(c) and 39(e), it is clear that the Rule 39(d) time limit applies to costs under Rule 39(c), i.e., briefs, appendices, the costs of which are fixed by the Court of Appeals, and copies of record authorized by Rule 30(f); these costs are taxed by the Clerk for insertion in the mandate. See App.Rule 39(c).

However, certain other costs on appeal are taxable in the district court under Rule 39(e):

Costs incurred in the preparation and transmission of the record, the cost of the reporter’s transcript, if necessary for the determination of the appeal, the premiums paid for cost of supersedeas bonds or other bonds to preserve rights pending appeal, and the fee for filing the notice of appeal shall be taxed in the district court as costs of the appeal in favor of the party entitled to costs under this rule.

No time limit is specified by Rule 39 for filing a bill of costs taxed in the district court as costs of appeal. This application for costs on appeal is timely.

However, Rule 39(a) expressly states that if a judgment is affirmed, as is the case here, costs shall be taxed against the appellant unless otherwise ordered (emphasis supplied). This rule applies to costs taxable in the district court as costs of the appeal; they are taxable only in favor of a party entitled to costs under Rule 39. Here, the Court of Appeals otherwise ordered; it expressly stated each party was to bear its own costs, so plaintiff’s counsel may not recover any costs under Rule 39, whether covered by Rule 39(c) or (e).

Plaintiff’s request for attorney’s fees for attempting to execute on the judgment, obtaining security to obtain plaintiff’s pending appeal, and briefing opposition to defendant’s appeal presents a different problem. It is clear under the Rules of Appellate Procedure and Rules of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, that the reference to “costs” does not ordinarily include attorney’s fees. The Notes of the Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules state with regard to Rule 39(a) that statutory authorization for taxation of costs is found in 28 U.S.C. § 1920. Attorney’s fees are not included in § 1920.1

This suggests that attorney’s fees for services on appeal are not barred by an appellate court mandate that each party pay its own costs. See Littlefield v. Mack, 134 F.R.D. 234 (N.D.Ill., E.D.1991) (Request that appellant post security for costs, including attorney’s fees, in civil rights action denied, because security required for [73]*73costs only as defined in Rule 39; Rule 39(e) clearly does not include attorney’s fees as a cost of appeal, even if 42 U.S.C. § 1988 states that a civil rights litigant may be awarded attorney’s fees “as part of the costs.”) But the Notes state further that “where statutes contain specific provisions in derogation of these general provisions ... these statutes are controlling in cases to which they apply.”

Plaintiff’s counsel claims fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988; this section states that a prevailing party in a § 1983 action may be awarded attorney’s fees “as part of the costs.” Buian v. Baughard, 687 F.2d 859 (6th Cir.1982), held that an appellate court award of costs to a litigant was an absolute prerequisite to the award of attorney’s fees under § 1988 for services resulting from the pursuit of appellate review. The rule in Buian was supported by Hutto v. Fin-ney, 437 U.S. 678, 98 S.Ct. 2565, 57 L.Ed.2d 522 (1978) (attorney’s fees are classified as “costs” recoverable from state notwithstanding 11th Amendment) and Marek v. Chesny, 473 U.S. 1, 105 S.Ct. 3012, 87 L.Ed.2d 1 (1985) (on review of legislative history and express language of § 1988 and Rule 68, denial of costs would include attorney’s fees otherwise awarded under § 1988).

However, Buian was expressly overruled in Kelley v. Metropolitan County Board of Education, 773 F.2d 677 (6th Cir.1985), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 1083, 106 S.Ct. 853, 88 L.Ed.2d 893 (1986); Kelley

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Related

Hutto v. Finney
437 U.S. 678 (Supreme Court, 1979)
Marek v. Chesny
473 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court, 1985)
Atascadero State Hospital v. Scanlon
473 U.S. 234 (Supreme Court, 1985)
Clark v. Township of Falls
890 F.2d 611 (Third Circuit, 1989)
Littlefield v. Mack
134 F.R.D. 234 (N.D. Illinois, 1991)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
139 F.R.D. 70, 1991 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13256, 1991 WL 202585, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcdonald-v-mccarthy-paed-1991.