The Estate of Larry Eugene Price, Jr. v. Turn Key Health Clinics, LLC et al

Filing 54

OPINION AND ORDER: Defendant Turn Key Health Clinics, LLC is ordered to pay the Estate of Larry Eugene Price, Jr. $15,892.50 in attorney's fees. Signed by Honorable P. K. Holmes III on May 9, 2024. (mjm)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS
FORT SMITH DIVISION
THE ESTATE OF LARRY EUGENE PRICE, JR.
by and through its Special Administrator, Rodney Price
v.

PLAINTIFF

No. 2:23-cv-2008

TURN KEY HEALTH CLINICS, LLC;
SEBASTIAN COUNTY, ARKANSAS;
DO JAWAN LEWIS; CHRISTEENA FERGUSON;
and J. DOES 1-20

DEFENDANTS

OPINION AND ORDER
Before the Court are Plaintiff The Estate of Larry Eugene Price, Jr.’s (“Estate”) affidavits
(Docs. 47, 48) in support of attorney’s fees. After the Court granted the Estate’s motion to compel,
the Court directed the Estate’s counsel to submit affidavits summarizing their fees. See Doc. 43,
p. 12. Defendant Turn Key Health Clinics, LLC (“Turn Key”) was given 7 days to file objections.
That deadline has passed without any objections from Turn Key.
Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(a)(5)(A), a party can recover its reasonable
expenses, including attorney’s fees, if a motion to compel is granted. When determining a fee
award, a district court must calculate the “lodestar,” which is arrived at by multiplying the number
of hours reasonably expended by the reasonable hourly rate. See Fish v. St. Cloud State Univ., 295
F.3d 849, 851 (8th Cir. 2002). The Court should base the “reasonable hourly rate” on the ordinary
rate for similar work in the community where the case is litigated and may rely on its own
experience and knowledge of prevailing market rates when doing so. See Miller v. Dugan, 764
F.3d 826, 831 (8th Cir. 2014). The Court should exclude from counsel’s submission of hours those
hours which were not reasonably expended. Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 436–37 (1983).

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The Estate’s lawyers seek $15,892.50 in attorney’s fees. (Doc. 47, p. 1). The Estate seeks
fees for two attorneys: Hank Balson and Erik Heipt. Id. Both attorneys seek an hourly rate of
$325. Mr. Balson’s affidavit explained that although he billed 74.3 hours, he reduced his requested
hours to only 44.6 hours. Id. at 2. Mr. Heipt billed only 4.3 hours for his review of the motion to
compel and reply in support of the motion to compel. (Doc. 48, p. 2).
Turning first to the hourly rate, the Court concludes that $325 is a reasonable rate for
attorneys in matters such as the present case. The Estate brings claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for
violations of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and under Arkansas’
wrongful death and survival statutes for medical negligence and violation of correctional
standards. See Doc. 2, pp. 27–28. Mr. Balson has nearly 25 years’ experience litigating civil rights
cases. (Doc. 47, pp. 2–3). Mr. Heipt has nearly 30 years’ experience as an attorney, with the last
two decades focused on civil rights cases concerning in-custody deaths, like the present case.
(Doc. 48, pp. 1–2). The Court believes $325 an hour is a reasonable rate, and that rate is consistent
with fee awards in civil rights cases for attorneys with similar levels of experience in this district.
See Hum. Rts. Def. Ctr. v. Baxter Cnty., Ark., 2023 WL 7404236, at *9–*11 (W.D. Ark. Oct. 30,
2023).
Turning to the hours reasonably expended, the Court agrees that the reduced amount of
hours Mr. Balson and Mr. Heipt requested is reasonable. Mr. Balson’s 74.3 hours billed would
have been unreasonable. But Mr. Balson has already reduced the hours requested to a reasonable
number. As the Court noted in its order on the motion to compel, the parties had 12 separate
disputes that occurred across several rounds of discovery. See Doc. 43, pp. 2–3. The Estate’s
motion was granted in full. The Court concludes that Mr. Balson’s 44.6 hours and Mr. Heipt’s 4.3
hours were reasonably expended in support of the Estate’s motion.

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The Court awards the following attorney’s fees:
Attorney

Rate

Hank Balson

$325.00

Erik Heipt

$325.00

Hours

Total

44.6 $14,495.00
4.3

$1,397.50

Total $15,892.50
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Defendant Turn Key Health Clinics, LLC is ordered
to pay the Estate of Larry Eugene Price, Jr. $15,892.50 in attorney’s fees.
IT IS SO ORDERED this 9th day of May, 2024.

/s/P. K. Holmes, III
P.K. HOLMES, III
U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE

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