Shakman v. Democratic Organization

634 F. Supp. 895, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25492
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedMay 14, 1986
DocketNo. 69 C 2145
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 634 F. Supp. 895 (Shakman v. Democratic Organization) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Shakman v. Democratic Organization, 634 F. Supp. 895, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25492 (N.D. Ill. 1986).

Opinion

[898]*898ORDER

Before the Court is the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment with respect to costs and partial summary judgment with respect to attorneys’ fees. For the reasons stated herein, plaintiffs’ motion with respect to costs is granted and their motion with respect to attorneys’ fees is granted in part and denied in part.

I. FACTS

This is a class action brought under the First Amendment, the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1985, challenging the patronage practices of the regular Democratic and Republican Party organizations in most of the Northern District of Illinois. Plaintiffs are independent candidates, voters and taxpayers. The defendants include various government officers at the state and local levels, local government entities, and local organizations and officials of the two major political parties. Plaintiffs’ principal theory is that the use of state and local government patronage power to coerce political support for the regular Party organizations and their candidates violates independents’ rights to fair and equal participation in the electoral process.

This case has a long history in this court. A 1969 dismissal of this action by Judge Marovitz was reversed by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in 1970. Following that reversal, plaintiffs entered into a consent decree with many of the Democratic and Republican defendants. In 1979, the Court found that all defendants engaged in a conspiracy to deprive plaintiffs of their constitutional and civil rights to a free political and electoral process. Shakman v. Democratic Organization of Cook County, 481 F.Supp. 1315, 1342 (N.D.Ill.1979).

Plaintiffs now seek to recover their attorneys’ fees and costs on Counts I-VI, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988, as well as under the common fund or benefit theory of awarding attorneys’ fees and costs.1 In their motion, plaintiffs seek partial summary judgment regarding their entitlement to attorneys’ fees and the reasonableness of their attorneys’ hours and hourly rates. In addition, plaintiffs seek attorneys’ fees and costs incurred by plaintiff Michael Shakman as an attorney. Finally, plaintiffs argue that any fees and costs awarded should be imposed jointly and severally against all defendants.

Defendant City of Chicago challenges the reasonableness of plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees based on the use of current hourly rates in addition to plaintiffs’ requested multiplier. In addition, the City argues that attorneys’ fees should not be imposed jointly and severally, but should be apportioned among the various defendants. The City also objects to the hours billed in connection with an amicus brief filed in Elrod v. Burns, 427 U.S. 347, 96 S.Ct. 2673, 49 L.Ed.2d 547 (1976), as well as double-billing relating to conversations between various attorneys. Finally, the City objects to any fees claimed by plaintiff Michael Shakman.

The County defendants object generally to the use of partial summary judgment on the reasonableness of plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees and costs. County defendants also object to joint and several imposition of fees and costs and argue for apportionment of fees and costs on the basis of the number of employees which each defendant has.

II. DISCUSSION

The Civil Rights Attorneys Fees Awards Act of 1976 provides that:

In any action or proceeding to enforce a provision of sections 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985 and 1986 of this title, ... the court, [899]*899in its discretion, may allow the prevailing party, other than the United States, a reasonable attorney’s fee as part of the costs.

42 U.S.C. § 1988. It is clear that the plaintiffs prevailed in Counts I-VI by virtue of the Court’s 1979 order and the 1972 consent decree. An award of attorneys’ fees to the prevailing party is legally required unless extraordinary circumstances intervene. Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 429, 103 S.Ct. 1933, 1937, 76 L.Ed.2d 40 (1983), citing S.Rep. No. 94-1011 at 4 (1976); Henry v. Webermeier, 738 F.2d 188, 192 (7th Cir.1984). Defendants have offered and the Court finds no extraordinary circumstances which would intervene to prevent an award of reasonable attorneys’ fees under Section 1988. Therefore, the issue here becomes what a reasonable award of attorneys’ fees is in this case.

A. Determination of Reasonable Attorneys’ Fees

Blum v. Stetson, 465 U.S. 886, 104 S.Ct. 1541, 79 L.Ed.2d 891 (1984), and Hensley v. Eckerhart, supra, set forth the method for calculating attorneys’ fees under Section 1988. The number of hours reasonably expended on the case multiplied by a reasonable hourly rate establishes the appropriate base amount for determining attorneys’ fees under Section 1988. Id. 104 S.Ct. at 1543-44, citing Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. at 433-34, 103 S.Ct. at 1939-40. Reasonable fees under Section 1988 are to be calculated according to the prevailing market rates in the relevant community. Blum v. Stetson, 104 S.Ct. at 1547. While the base amount provides a useful starting point, other factors, including the results obtained, may lead to upward or downward adjustment of the fee. Blum, 104 S.Ct. at 1548-50; Hensley, 461 U.S. at 434-37, 103 S.Ct. at 1939-41. The approach developed in Blum and Hensley has been followed by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Lynch v. City of Milwaukee, 747 F.2d 423, 426 (7th Cir.1984); Henry v. Webermeier, 738 F.2d 188, 193 (7th Cir.1984).

1. Total Number of Hours: Reduction For Inadequate Documentation

In Ohio-Sealy Mattress Mfg. Co. v. Sealy, Inc., 776 F.2d 646 (7th Cir.1985), the Seventh Circuit directed the district court, under the “lodestar” approach, to disallow hours devoted to unrelated, unsuccessful claims. Id. at 651. Also excluded are hours for which the prevailing party provides inadequate documentation. Id. The Seventh Circuit rejected the argument that a district court must identify allegedly vague entries and limit the reduction to the time covered by them. Id. at 657. Instead, the district court may simply reduce the proposed fee award by a reasonable amount without performing an item-by-item accounting. Id.

In the present case, plaintiffs have submitted extensive documentation in the form of affidavits which detail the number of hours spent by their counsel on Counts I-VI. C.

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Related

Shakman v. Democratic Organization of Cook County
634 F. Supp. 895 (N.D. Illinois, 1986)

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Bluebook (online)
634 F. Supp. 895, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25492, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shakman-v-democratic-organization-ilnd-1986.