Little Rock School et al v. Pulaski Cty School et al

Filing 5789

ORDER partly granting and partly denying 5782 motion. The Pulaski County Special School District owes the McClendon Intervenors $324,888.25, less the monthly amounts paid by the District since entry of this Court's January 5780 Order. The full amount is due and payable now. Interest shall accrue at 0.054% from 5/6/2021 until this fee/expenses award is paid in full. Signed by Chief Judge D. P. Marshall Jr. on 4/8/2022. (jak)

Case 4:82-cv-00866-DPM Document 5789 Filed 04/08/22 Page 1 of 3

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS
CENTRAL DIVISION

LITTLE ROCK SCHOOL DISTRICT, et al.

PLAINTIFFS

No. 4:82-cv-866-DPM
PULASKI COUNTY SPECIAL SCHOOL
DISTRICT, JACKSONVILLE/NORTH
PULASKI SCHOOL DISTRICT, et al.
EMILY McCLENDON, TAMARA EACKLES,
VALERIE STALLINGS, TIFFANY ELLIS,
and LINDA MORGAN

DEFENDANTS

INTERVENORS

ORDER

The Court made a mistake about the McClendon Intervenors'
position on the payment of attorney's fees over time. This error must
be corrected. FED. R. Crv. P. 60(b)(l). The Court is familiar, to some
extent, with PCSSD' s finances and financial challenges.

But the

driving reason behind the Court's approval of installment payments
was its (mistaken) understanding that this request was unopposed.
With that corrected, the Intervenors are entitled to receive the fees
awarded now.
The Court pondered the hourly rates, as well as how much of the
requested fees (particularly for litigation) should be awarded,
considering all the circumstances and the applicable law. E.g., Jenkins
by Jenkins v. Missouri, 127 F.3d 709, 716-19 (8th Cir. 1997) (en bane);

Case 4:82-cv-00866-DPM Document 5789 Filed 04/08/22 Page 2 of 3

Corbett v . Sullivan, 353 F.3d 628, 631 (8th Cir. 2003). And the Court did

the best it could in its 28 January 2022 Order to explain its thinking
about what a reasonable fee was. The Court stands by its decision on
those issues.
Counsel are not entitled to pre-judgment interest on the fee
award. As best it can recall, the Court has never made a specific prejudgment interest award in connection with an attorney's fee in this
case. That circumstance has, instead, been baked in the hourly rates
and the overall fee awarded.

In general, pre-judgment interest is

available when the amount recovered is fixed and ascertainable in
advance.

That is not the situation presented.

In arriving at its

decision about a reasonable fee, the Court considered the several-year
delay in payment.
Intervenors are entitled to interest on the fee award. Interest will
run from 6 May 2021, the date of the Court's Opinion and Order, Doc.
5730. Jenkins by Agyei v. Missouri, 931 F.2d 1273, 1277 (8th Cir. 1991).
The statutory rate is .054%. 28 U.S.C. § 1961(a).
Motion, Doc. 5782, partly granted and partly denied.

The

Pulaski County Special School District owes the McClendon
Intervenors $324,888.25, less the monthly amounts paid by the District
since entry of the Court's January Order, Doc. 5780. The full amount
is due and payable now. Interest shall accrue at .054 % from 6 May
2021 until this fee/ expenses award is paid in full .
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Case 4:82-cv-00866-DPM Document 5789 Filed 04/08/22 Page 3 of 3

So Ordered.
D.P. Marshall Jr. 7
United States District Judge

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