Coleman, et al v. Schwarzenegger, et al

Filing 3906

ORDER signed by Senior Judge Lawrence K. Karlton on 9/1/10 GRANTING 3905 stipulation to pay plaintiffs interim fees and to stay plaintiffs' motion to compel payment of reasonable fees for work performed by nonparalegals during 2009 until the resolution of Perez v. Cate, Appeal 09-17185. (Becknal, R)

(PC) Coleman, et al v. Schwarzenegger, et al

Doc. 3906

1 ROSEN, BIEN & GALVAN, LLP MICHAEL W. BIEN, Bar No. 96891 2 ERNEST GALVAN, Bar No. 196065 JANE E. KAHN, Bar No. 112239 3 AMY WHELAN, Bar No. 215675 315 Montgomery Street, 10th Floor 4 San Francisco, California 94104-1823 5 Telephone: [phone] K&L GATES LLP JEFFREY L. BORNSTEIN, Bar No. 99358 7 EDWARD P. SANGSTER, Bar No. 121041 RAYMOND E. LOUGHREY, Bar No. 194363 8 4 Embarcadero Center, Suite 1200 San Francisco, California 94111-5994 9 Telephone: [phone] THE LEGAL AID SOCIETY ­ 11 EMPLOYMENT LAW CENTER CLAUDIA CENTER, Bar No. 158255 12 600 Harrison Street, Suite 120 San Francisco, California 94107-1389 13 Telephone: [phone] Attorneys for Plaintiffs 15 16 17

PRISON LAW OFFICE DONALD SPECTER, Bar No. 83925 STEVEN FAMA, Bar No. 99641 1917 Fifth Street Berkeley, California 94710-1916 Telephone: [phone]

BINGHAM, MCCUTCHEN, LLP WARREN E. GEORGE, Bar No. 53588 Three Embarcadero Center San Francisco, California 94111-4067 Telephone: [phone]

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA Case No. CIV S 90-520 LKK-JFM STIPULATION AND ORDER TO PAY PLAINTIFFS INTERIM FEES AND TO STAY PLAINTIFFS' MOTION TO COMPEL PAYMENT OF REASONABLE FEES FOR WORK PERFORMED BY NONPARALEGALS DURING 2009 UNTIL THE RESOLUTION OF PEREZ V. CATE, APPEAL 09-17185

18 RALPH COLEMAN, et al., 19 20 21 v. Plaintiffs,

22 ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, et al., 23 24 25 26 27 28 Defendants.

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STIP. & [PROPOSED] ORDER TO PAY PLS. INTERIM FEES & TO STAY PLS.' MOTION TO COMPEL PAYMENT OF REASONABLE FEES FOR WORK PERFORMED BY NONPARALEGALS DURING 2009 UNTIL RESOLUTION OF PEREZ V. CATE, APPEAL ­ No. Civ S 90-520 LKK-JFM

Dockets.Justia.com

1 2 3 4 5

STIPULATION TO PAY PLAINTIFFS INTERIM FEES AND TO STAY PLAINTIFFS' MOTION TO COMPEL PAYMENT OF REASONABLE FEES FOR WORK PERFORMED BY NONPARALEGALS DURING 2009 UNTIL THE RESOLUTION OF PEREZ V. CATE, APPEAL 09-17185 Plaintiffs and Defendants STIPULATE as follows: 1. Pursuant to the Coleman Periodic Fees Order, "Plaintiffs will file a yearly motion

6 to compel payment of disputed items, if necessary, not later than sixty (60) days after the parties 7 meet and confer with respect to the statement covering the fourth quarter of each year." March 8 19, 1996 Stipulation and Order for Periodic Collection of Attorneys' Fees and Costs (attached as 9 Appendix A). The parties have already stipulated to stay all attorneys' fees, costs and expense 10 matters related to the Three-Judge Panel and related appeals until October 1, 2010. Coleman 11 Docket 3801. The only remaining, disputed issues from 2009 are: (1) Defendants' refusal to pay 12 for any work performed by staff who are not "paralegals" as defined by California Business & 13 Professions Code § 6450, and; (2) Defendants' refusal to pay more than $135 per hour or $82.50 14 per hour for paralegal work on the case. 15 2. On May 26, 2010, this Court issued an order adopting the parties' stipulation to

16 stay plaintiffs' motion to compel regarding the rate to be paid to paralegals pending final 17 resolution of Perez, et al. v. Cate, et al., Court of Appeals Docket No. 09-17185, United States 18 Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, including any petitions for panel or en banc rehearing, or 19 final resolution in the United States Supreme Court (hereinafter "Perez appeal"). Coleman 20 Docket 3851. The parties agreed, however, that plaintiffs would move to compel based on 21 defendants' refusal to pay any fees for work performed by nonparalegal litigation assistants. Id. 22 3. Plaintiffs now withdraw their motion to compel payment for work performed by

23 nonparalegal litigation assistants (Coleman Docket Nos. 3871-3877), as defendants agree to pay 24 these fees at a reduced rate. The parties agree to stay plaintiffs' motion regarding the final rate 25 defendants will pay nonparalegal litigation assistants pending final resolution of the Perez 26 appeal, including any petitions for panel or en banc rehearing, or final resolution in the United 27 States Supreme Court. 28 4. In the interim, defendants agree to pay nonparalegal litigation assistant fees at the 1

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STIP. & [PROPOSED] ORDER TO PAY PLS. INTERIM FEES & TO STAY PLS.' MOTION TO COMPEL PAYMENT OF REASONABLE FEES FOR WORK PERFORMED BY NONPARALEGALS DURING 2009 UNTIL RESOLUTION OF PEREZ V. CATE, APPEAL ­ No. Civ S 90-520 LKK-JFM

1 hourly rate of $82.50. For 2009, defendants will pay plaintiffs, within 30 days of the passage of 2 the California state budget for 2010/2011, $8,728.50 for 105.8 hours that defendants previously 3 refused to compensate. In so doing, plaintiffs do not waive and will enforce their right to interest 4 in accordance with the provisions set forth in the Coleman Periodic Fees order. Nothing in this 5 Stipulation may be deemed a waiver or concession of any party's legal arguments regarding this 6 issue. 7 5. If the Ninth Circuit rules in the Perez appeal that the Prison Litigation Reform Act

8 governs paralegal fees, then the PLRA also governs nonparalegal litigation assistant fees. 9 6. If the requested stay is granted, the parties will meet and confer regarding the

10 nonparalegal rate issue, as well as the paralegal rate issue, within 10 days after the mandate 11 issues in the Perez appeal. If the parties are still unable to resolve this issue, plaintiffs will re-file 12 a motion to compel within 60 days of the completion of the meet and confer. 13 14 15 Dated: August 30, 2010 16 17 18 19 Dated: August 30, 2010 20 21 22 23 24 25 Dated: September 1, 2010 26 27 28 2
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IT IS SO STIPULATED.

Respectfully submitted, ROSEN, BIEN & GALVAN, LLP By: /s/ Amy Whelan Amy Whelan Attorney for Coleman Plaintiffs Office of the Attorney General By: Debbie Vorous, Deputy Attorney General Attorney for Coleman Defendants

IT IS SO ORDERED.

STIP. & [PROPOSED] ORDER TO PAY PLS. INTERIM FEES & TO STAY PLS.' MOTION TO COMPEL PAYMENT OF REASONABLE FEES FOR WORK PERFORMED BY NONPARALEGALS DURING 2009 UNTIL RESOLUTION OF PEREZ V. CATE, APPEAL ­ No. Civ S 90-520 LKK-JFM