Ronald E. Stewart v. James A. Rhodes

Sixth Circuit

Ronald E. Stewart v. James A. Rhodes

656 F.2d 1216

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

DecidedSeptember 29, 1981

Docket80-3662

StatusPublished

Cited by8 cases

This text of 656 F.2d 1216 (Ronald E. Stewart v. James A. Rhodes) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Ronald E. Stewart v. James A. Rhodes, 656 F.2d 1216 (6th Cir. 1981).

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PER CURIAM.

This action was commenced by several inmates at the Columbus Correctional Facility (“CCF”) on behalf of all persons incarcerated at the prison. The inmates charged CCF prison officials with: (1) the unlawful segregation of prisoners by race, and (2) the use of certain types of physical restraints on the inmates. The complainants sought declaratory and injunctive relief against the CCF prison officials for the alleged unconstitutional conditions of confinement.

On July 13, 1979, the district court issued a preliminary injunction against the further use of physical restraints and the segregation of prisoners by race. CCF then perfected an interlocutory appeal of the injunction to this court.

In December 1979, before this court entered judgment on the appeal of the preliminary injunction, the parties signed a Consent Decree which incorporated the provisions of the July 13, 1979 order. After entry of the Consent Decree, the attorneys representing the plaintiffs moved for an award of attorney’s fees. The district court granted fees in the amount of $117,020.34 for approximately 1850 hours of work. The defendants then appealed the award of the fees to this court.

Both appeals, the appeal of the preliminary injunction and the appeal of the award of attorney’s fees, were consolidated for the purpose of oral argument. This court dismissed as moot the appeal of the preliminary injunction in our order issued from the bench on June 17, 1980.

We now hold that the district court’s award of attorney’s fees did not constitute an abuse of discretion. The defendants ap[1217]*1217pealed the award alleging that the district court: (1) based its order for the payment of attorney’s fees on the expenditure of an unreasonable number of hours; (2) failed to make deductions where a substantial amount of duplication existed; (3) failed to reduce the award of attorney’s fees to reflect the fact that plaintiffs had caused or aggravated many of the conditions underlying their complaint; (4) improperly awarded plaintiffs’ counsel fees for the work of paralegals; (5) failed to order attorney’s fees based on a reasonable rate of compensation; and (6) failed to deduct a percentage of the requested attorney’s fees for failure to keep accurate and contemporaneous records.

This court has thoroughly outlined the criteria for determining the appropriateness of an award of attorney’s fees. Northcross v. Board of Education of Memphis City Schools, 611 F.2d 624 (6th Cir. 1979), cert. denied, 447 U.S. 911, 100 S.Ct. 2999, 64 L.Ed.2d 862 (1980). The district court discussed and correctly applied the standards established in Northcross. The defendants have not raised any issues which were not raised below. The district court held an extensive hearing in which it addressed all of the issues. We find no error in its findings of fact or conclusions of law.

Accordingly, the judgment of the district court, Judge Robert M. Duncan, is AFFIRMED.

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PER CURIAM.

This action was commenced by several inmates at the Columbus Correctional Facility (“CCF”) on behalf of all persons incarcerated at the prison. The inmates charged CCF prison officials with: (1) the unlawful segregation of prisoners by race, and (2) the use of certain types of physical restraints on the inmates. The complainants sought declaratory and injunctive relief against the CCF prison officials for the alleged unconstitutional conditions of confinement.

On July 13, 1979, the district court issued a preliminary injunction against the further use of physical restraints and the segregation of prisoners by race. CCF then perfected an interlocutory appeal of the injunction to this court.

In December 1979, before this court entered judgment on the appeal of the preliminary injunction, the parties signed a Consent Decree which incorporated the provisions of the July 13, 1979 order. After entry of the Consent Decree, the attorneys representing the plaintiffs moved for an award of attorney’s fees. The district court granted fees in the amount of $117,020.34 for approximately 1850 hours of work. The defendants then appealed the award of the fees to this court.

Both appeals, the appeal of the preliminary injunction and the appeal of the award of attorney’s fees, were consolidated for the purpose of oral argument. This court dismissed as moot the appeal of the preliminary injunction in our order issued from the bench on June 17, 1980.

We now hold that the district court’s award of attorney’s fees did not constitute an abuse of discretion. The defendants ap[1217]*1217pealed the award alleging that the district court: (1) based its order for the payment of attorney’s fees on the expenditure of an unreasonable number of hours; (2) failed to make deductions where a substantial amount of duplication existed; (3) failed to reduce the award of attorney’s fees to reflect the fact that plaintiffs had caused or aggravated many of the conditions underlying their complaint; (4) improperly awarded plaintiffs’ counsel fees for the work of paralegals; (5) failed to order attorney’s fees based on a reasonable rate of compensation; and (6) failed to deduct a percentage of the requested attorney’s fees for failure to keep accurate and contemporaneous records.

This court has thoroughly outlined the criteria for determining the appropriateness of an award of attorney’s fees. Northcross v. Board of Education of Memphis City Schools, 611 F.2d 624 (6th Cir. 1979), cert. denied, 447 U.S. 911, 100 S.Ct. 2999, 64 L.Ed.2d 862 (1980). The district court discussed and correctly applied the standards established in Northcross. The defendants have not raised any issues which were not raised below. The district court held an extensive hearing in which it addressed all of the issues. We find no error in its findings of fact or conclusions of law.

Accordingly, the judgment of the district court, Judge Robert M. Duncan, is AFFIRMED.

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656 F.2d 1216, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ronald-e-stewart-v-james-a-rhodes-ca6-1981.

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