Pruitt v. Genentech, Inc.

Filing 166

ORDER signed by District Judge John A. Mendez on 4/17/19 GRANTING Plaintiff's Motion for Sanctions. The Court awards Plaintiff $2,332 to be paid by Defendant's attorneys within ten (10) days of this order.(Mena-Sanchez, L)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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TIMOTHY PRUITT,

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No.

2:17-cv-00822-JAM-AC

Plaintiff,
v.

ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S
MOTION FOR SANCTIONS

GENENTECH, INC.,

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Defendant.

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On March 26, 2019, Defendant served a subpoena on Plaintiff,

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requiring the production of various documents.

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this subpoena despite the Court’s admonition to both parties at

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the pretrial conference that the discovery period had ended.

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response, Plaintiff filed a motion for protective order and to

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quash Defendant’s subpoena.

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Plaintiff’s motion and awarded him sanctions against defense

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counsel.

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ECF No. 139.

Defendants served

In

The Court granted

The Court awards Plaintiff the cost of drafting his motion.

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Plaintiff’s counsel submitted a declaration detailing how long

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Darci Burrell, a partner at Levy Vinick Burrell Hyams, LLP, spent

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on the motion.

Decl. of Darci E. Burrell (“Burrell Decl.”), ECF
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No. 151.

The declaration also sets out Burrell’s hourly rate.

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Id. at 2.

Plaintiff later supplemented Burrell’s declaration

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with her curriculum vitae.

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Darci Burrell CV, ECF No. 165.

As previously explained, a reasonable rate for attorneys in

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the Eastern District of California is not the same as a

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reasonable rate for attorneys in other districts.

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been practicing law for nearly 25 years across both the public

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and private sectors.

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hourly rate for someone with Burrell’s training and experience is

Id.

Burrell has

In the Eastern District, a reasonable

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$530 per hour.

See, e.g., Early v. Keystone Restaurant Group,

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LLC, No. 16-cv-00740-JAM-DB, 2019 WL 918211 at *5 (E.D. Cal. Feb.

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25, 2019).

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Plaintiff’s motion.

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Plaintiff $2,332 to be paid by Defendant’s attorneys within ten

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(10) days of this order.

Burrell spent 4.4 hours researching and drafting
Burrell Decl. at 2.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: April 17, 2019

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The Court awards