Packer v. SN Servicing Corp.

243 F.R.D. 39, 68 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 499, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42711, 2007 WL 1732582
CourtDistrict Court, D. Connecticut
DecidedJune 11, 2007
DocketCivil Action No. 3:04 CV 1506 MRK
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 243 F.R.D. 39 (Packer v. SN Servicing Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Packer v. SN Servicing Corp., 243 F.R.D. 39, 68 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 499, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42711, 2007 WL 1732582 (D. Conn. 2007).

Opinion

RULING ON DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO COMPEL PAYMENT OF DISCOVERY COSTS (DOC. #138)

BELT, Special Master.

By motion dated April 17, 2007 (Doc. # 138), Defendants SN Servicing Corporation. SN Commercial, LLC and Ingomar Limited partnership have moved for an order compelling Plaintiff Curtis Packer and Lorraine Denaro to pay, pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 26(b)(4)(C)(i), the costs of their discovery of Defendants’ expert witnesses by way of depositions and document requests. For the reasons stated below, Defendants’ motion is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.

A. The Claims in the Case

In their 72 page, 230 paragraph Amended Complaint dated January 18, 2005 and filed on March 3, 2005, Plaintiff Curtis Packer alleges that in December 1992, he purchased real property on Blatchley Avenue in New Haven, Connecticut and that Plaintiffs Packer and Lorraine Denaro borrowed $77,600 from The Bank of New Haven, secured by a mortgage, in connection with that purchase. Plaintiffs also allege that in June 1994, they purchased real property on Elm Street in New Haven, Connecticut and that in November 1995 they borrowed $57,000 from The Bank of New Haven, secured by a mortgage on that property. Plaintiffs allege that in March, 1997, Citizens Bank of Connecticut became the holder of these notes and mortgages. Plaintiffs further allege that in 2001, Citizens Bank refused to accept payments on these notes and Plaintiff Packer was informed by Defendant SN Servicing Corporation that it was the agent for Defendant SN Commercial, LLC, which was the assignee of the notes. Plaintiffs allege that Defendants failed to provide them with information as to who was the holder of the notes; that invoices sent to Plaintiffs were incorrect; and that Defendants failed to provide them with timely payoff amounts. Plaintiffs allege that in July 2002, Defendant Ingomar Limited Partnership commenced foreclosure actions with respect to the two properties, alleging that it was the owner and holder of the notes and mortgages. Plaintiffs also allege that the Defendants failed to record the assignments of the notes and mortgages on a timely basis and failed to provide payoff statements within the time set forth in Conn. GemStat. § 49-10a.

Plaintiffs allege that as a consequence of Defendants’ actions, they incurred additional interest, costs and expenses in defense of the foreclosure actions, they were denied their right to make timely payment or discharge of their debts, were subjected to unnecessary costs and expenses and emotional distress which led to loss of income to the point where Plaintiff Packer could not make payments on his other obligations, and that Plaintiffs lost the benefit of the bargain and the gain from the possible sale of the property.

Plaintiffs also allege that Plaintiff Packer knew that not being allowed to pay his mortgages while ready, able and willing to so, could have dire results and, as a result, be[41]*41gan to sink into depression which resulted in his not being able to function properly which, in turn, resulted in mismanagement of his properties and caused him to expend his resources to the point where he could no longer make payments on his other obligations. (Amended Complaint H11151-156, 189, 196, 204, 206, 221). He also alleges that he suffered severe emotional distress (Amended Complaint § 226).

B. Defendants’ Motion to Compel Payment of Discovery Costs

In its motion to compel payment of discovery costs, Defendants seek an order, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(b)(4)(C)(i) to compel payment of the costs they incurred as a result of Plaintiffs’ discovery of two experts identified by Defendants to testify on the issue of Plaintiff Packer’s emotional condition. These experts were Dr. Peter Zeman, a psychiatrist, and Dr. Frank Stoll, Ph.D., a forensic psychologist. Defendants delivered reports from Dr. Zeman and Dr. Stoll to Plaintiffs counsel on December 1, 2006 and produced some documents to Plaintiffs in connection with those expert reports. On February 14, 2007, Dr. Zeman and Dr. Stoll were served by Plaintiffs with subpoenas for their deposition and asking for the production of documents. Dr. Zeman and Dr. Stoll were examined on March 1 and 2, 2007.

Defendants seek costs of $4,500 with respect to the deposition of Dr. Zeman and $6,195.00 with respect to the deposition of Dr. Stoll. The declaration and invoice of Dr. Zeman submitted by Defendants shows the following charges:

Date Description Hours Rate Amount
2/26/2007 Document Review 1 350.00 350.00
2/27/2007 Document Review 3 350.00 1.050.00
2/28/2007 Document Review 1 350.00 350.00
3/1/2007 Professional Conference 1 350.00 350.00
3/1/2007 Deposition 400.00 1.200.00
3/2/2007 Deposition 400.00 1,200.00
Total: 4,500.00

Dr. Zeman’s declaration states that his “hourly fee for all forensic psychiatric work is $350 per hour except for the hourly fee for testimony at deposition or trial, which is $400 per hour.” The declaration and statement of Dr. Stoll submitted by Defendants shows the following:

Date Description Hours Amount
2/27/2007 Document Review 3.15 $ 945.00
2/28/2007 Professional Conference 3.00 900.00
2/28/2007 Report Preparation 2.00 600.00
3/1/2007 Professional Conference 1.50 450.00
3/1/2007 Deposition 5.00 1.500.00
3/1/2007 Document Review 0.50 150.00
3/2/2007 Deposition 4.75 1.425.00
3/2/2007 Document Review 0.75 225.00
Total: $6,195.00

All of Dr. Stoll’s time was billed at $300.00 per hour. In his declaration, Dr. Stoll states: “My customary fee for examining patients and parties is $200 per hour. My customary fee for work connected with depositions and trial testimony is $300 per hour.”

In a letter dated April 15, 2007 referred to in Plaintiffs’ Objection to the SN Defendants’ Motion to Compel Payment of Discovery

Costs, Plaintiffs did not challenge the hourly rates charges by either Dr. Zeman or Dr. Stoll. They did, however, challenge Defendants’ right to recover for the time spent responding to their document subpoenas, the reasonableness of the time spent in preparation, the time actually involved in Dr. Ze-man’s deposition and whether Defendants are entitled to compensation for collecting [42]*42and reviewing documents and for preparation for the deposition or conferences with Defendants’ counsel.

C. Legal Standards

Rule 26(b)(4)(C)(i) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides:

Unless manifest injustice would result, (i) the court shall require that the party seeking discovery pay the expert a reasonable fee for time spent in responding to discovery under this subdivision____

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243 F.R.D. 39, 68 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 499, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42711, 2007 WL 1732582, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/packer-v-sn-servicing-corp-ctd-2007.