Banks v. Jackson Hospital & Clinic, Inc. et al
Filing
59
OPINION AND ORDER: It is the ORDER, JUDGMENT, and DECREE of the court as follows: (1) Defendant Jackson Hospital & Clinic, Inc.' 38 Motion for fees is granted. (2) Defendant Jackson Hospital & Clinic, Inc. is entitled to $203.75 in fees. (3) The above-referenced fees must be paid, within 14 days, by plaintiff Viola H. Bank's counsel and are not to be born by the plaintiff Banks herself. Signed by Honorable Judge Myron H. Thompson on 5/8/2012. (dmn, )
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF ALABAMA, NORTHERN DIVISION
VIOLA H. BANKS,
)
)
Plaintiff,
)
)
v.
)
)
JACKSON HOSPITAL & CLINIC, )
INC.,
)
)
Defendant.
)
CIVIL ACTION NO.
2:11cv462-MHT
(WO)
OPINION AND ORDER
Plaintiff Viola H. Banks brought this lawsuit against
defendant Jackson Hospital & Clinic, Inc., alleging raceand age-based discrimination.
On February 21, 2012, this
court granted Banks’s motion to extend time to file her
response to the hospital’s motion for summary judgment on
the
condition
that
Banks’s
counsel
pay
half
of
the
reasonable attorney’s fees that the hospital incurred in
connection with the extension.
Banks v. Jackson Hosp. &
Clinic, Inc., 2012 WL 566561, *1 (M.D. Ala. Feb. 21,
2012).
Banks’s counsel agreed and the case is now before
the court on the hospital’s motion for fees.
For the
reasons that follow, that motion will be granted.
As a condition of granting Banks’s motion to extend,
this court required her counsel to agree, in writing, to
pay 50 % “of the reasonable attorney’s fees and expenses
that
defendant
Jackson
Hospital
&
Clinic,
Inc.
...
incurred in connection with the extension motion.”
Id.
On February 23, her counsel entered a notice indicating
that he “respectfully accept[ed] the conditions set forth
in [that order].”
hospital
then
expenses.
court
is
Notice (Doc. No. 33) at 1.
submitted
evidence
of
its
fees
The
and
Therefore, the only question now before the
whether
the
fees
and
expenses
sought
are
reasonable.
The hospital submits a total of $ 407.50 in fees and
no expenses attributable to the motion to extend.
The
fee amount constitutes a little more than two hours of
work at attorney billing rates between $ 130 and $ 185
per hour.
Banks’s counsel has raised no objection either
2
to the number of hours worked or to the applicable
billing rates and the court, based on “its own knowledge
and experience concerning reasonable and proper fees,”
Norman v. Hous. Auth. of Montgomery, 836 F.2d 1292, 1303
(11th Cir. 1988), concludes that $ 407.50 is appropriate
under the circumstances.
Therefore, pursuant to this
court’s previous order, Banks’s counsel must pay to the
hospital 50 % (or $ 203.75) of that amount.
***
It is therefore the ORDER, JUDGMENT, and DECREE of
the court as follows:
(1)
Defendant
Jackson
Hospital
&
Clinic,
Inc.’s
motion for fees (doc. no. 38) is granted.
(2) Defendant Jackson Hospital & Clinic, Inc. is
entitled to $ 203.75 in fees.
(3) The above-referenced fees must be paid, within 14
days, by plaintiff Viola H. Banks’s counsel and are not
to be born by the plaintiff Banks herself.
DONE, this the 8th day of May, 2012.
/s/ Myron H. Thompson
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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