United States v. City of Buffalo

770 F. Supp. 108, 1991 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11372, 1991 WL 155689
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. New York
DecidedAugust 15, 1991
DocketCIV-73-414C
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 770 F. Supp. 108 (United States v. City of Buffalo) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. City of Buffalo, 770 F. Supp. 108, 1991 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11372, 1991 WL 155689 (W.D.N.Y. 1991).

Opinion

CURTIN, District Judge.

Pending is the application of the attorneys for intervenor-plaintiffs Afro-American Police Association, et al. (“intervenors”), for attorneys’ fees and related expenses from defendant City of Buffalo (“City”). In support of the application, the intervenors have submitted affidavits with exhibits of Paul C. Saunders, Esq. (Items 355, 359), and of Richard T. Seymour, Esq. (Item 354). In opposition to the application, the City has filed two affidavits of Michael Risman, Esq., Senior Deputy Corporation Counsel (Items 358, 360).

There are several aspects to the application. The first concerns efforts related to the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Firefighters Local Union No. 1784 v. Stotts, 467 U.S. 561, 104 S.Ct. 2576, 81 L.Ed.2d 483 (1984). The intervenors seek compensation for work done in successfully opposing the motions brought in 1985 by the City and the United States Department of Justice to eliminate the hiring goals ordered by this court in light of Stotts. The intervenors also seek compensation for the additional work done in opposing the appeal subsequently taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and for their efforts in pursuing a petition for certiorari after the Second Circuit’s affirmance.

The second aspect relates to work done by the intervenors in resisting the motions by the City and the Department of Justice to lift the 50% interim hiring goals. In regard to those motions, the intervenors were not entirely successful because the court, in an interim order dated August 9, 1989, and in the final order dated September 5, 1989, see United States v. City of Buffalo, 721 F.Supp. 463 (W.D.N.Y.1989), found that the City had substantially complied with the conditions for lifting the 50% hiring goals that had been implemented as part of the court’s 1979 remedial decree. *110 The court did, however, direct that interim hiring goals were still necessary and that they should be based on applicant flow, a position urged by the intervenors in the alternative.

The third aspect relates to efforts of the intervenors in preparing for trial on the issue of the validity of the City’s selection procedures. Much discovery was necessary, and on the eve of trial the City agreed to develop a new test rather than to attempt to establish at trial the validity of the existing test. The intervenors argue that, since this was the relief they had hoped to obtain at trial, their efforts in bringing about this result merit a fee award.

Mr. Saunders has detailed his efforts and those of his litigation team in his initial affidavit. A detailed statement of the hours spent and the work done by him and by his associates is set forth in this filing. He seeks a total fee—based on three suggested alternative hourly rates of $225, $250, or $275—ranging from $128,162 to $159,282.10, as well as disbursements totaling $22,438.35. The application reveals that Mr. Saunders is well qualified and experienced. In addition, the records submitted in support of the application are contemporaneous and detailed.

Mr. Seymour’s affidavit indicates that he has specialized in litigating many large-scale employment-discrimination cases. In this case, his main responsibility was to provide special advice to Mr. Saunders and his associates in handling complicated legal issues that arose during the course of the litigation. He seeks compensation at an hourly rate of $225, and has provided a detailed account of his qualifications and experience and of the time he has spent working on this case. He seeks a total of $15,975 in fees and reimbursement of $2,642.49 for out-of-pocket expenses.

The City opposes the fee application, arguing alternatively that the intervenors did not prevail or, if it is found that they did prevail, that there was only moderate relief granted. The City argues that the actions that eventually led to the fee application were initiated and pressed mainly by the Department of Justice, and that, consequently, the City should not be responsible for the intervenors’ attorneys’ fees. The City also asserts that an examination of the application shows that there is duplication of effort among the intervenors’ lawyers, and that the hourly rate sought for each is excessive.

The threshold issue for each aspect of the application is whether the intervenors can be considered “prevailing parties.” Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 433, 103 S.Ct. 1933, 1939, 76 L.Ed.2d 40 (1983). A plaintiff will be considered a prevailing party if he or she “has succeeded on ‘any significant issue in litigation which achieve[d] some of the benefit the parties sought in bringing suit.’ ” Texas State Teachers Ass’n v. Garland Independent School Dist., 489 U.S. 782, 791-92, 109 S.Ct. 1486, 1493, 103 L.Ed.2d 866 (1989) (quoting Nadeau v. Helgemoe, 581 F.2d 275, 278-79 (1st Cir.1978)). A plaintiff must receive “at least some relief on the merits of his claim before he can be said to prevail.” Hewitt v. Helms, 482 U.S. 755, 760, 107 S.Ct. 2672, 2675, 96 L.Ed.2d 654 (1987). See also Dague v. City of Burlington, 935 F.2d 1343, 1357 (2d Cir.1991); Koster v. Perales, 903 F.2d 131, 134-35 (2d Cir.1990).

If I find the intervenors to have prevailed on a given aspect of their application, I shall then use the instruction set forth by the Supreme Court in Hensley v. Eckerhart with regard to any fees awarded. The court stated in that case:

The most useful starting point for determining the amount of a reasonable fee is the number of hours reasonably expended on the litigation multiplied by a reasonable hourly rate____
The district court also should exclude from this initial fee calculation hours that were not “reasonably expended.” ... Cases may be overstaffed, and the skill and experience of lawyers vary widely. Counsel for the prevailing party should make a good-faith effort to exclude from a fee request hours that are excessive, redundant, or otherwise unnecessary____ Hours that are not prop *111 erly billed to one’s client also are not properly billed to one’s adversary pursuant to statutory authority____
The product of reasonable hours times a reasonable rate does not end the inquiry. There remain other considerations that may lead the district court to adjust the fee upward or downward, including the important factor of the “results obtained.” This factor is particularly crucial where a plaintiff is deemed “prevailing” even though he succeeded on only some of his claims for relief____

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Bluebook (online)
770 F. Supp. 108, 1991 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11372, 1991 WL 155689, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-city-of-buffalo-nywd-1991.