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