Kardonick v. JP Morgan Chase & Co. et al

Filing 298

Plaintiff's MOTION for Attorney Fees and Reimbursement of Litigation Expenses by David Kardonick. Responses due by 8/15/2011 (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Declaration, # 2 Exhibit 1, # 3 Exhibit 2, # 4 Exhibit 3, # 5 Exhibit 4, # 6 Exhibit 5, # 7 Exhibit 6, # 8 Exhibit 7, # 9 Text of Proposed Order)(Ku, Brian)

EXHIBIT 2

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

DAVID KAONICK, JOHN DAVID,
and MICHAEL CLEMINS, individually
and on behalf of all others similarly
situated,
Plaintiffs,
v.

JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. and
CHASE BANK USA, N.A.

C. A. No. 1-10-cv-23235-WMH

Defendants.

DECLARATION OF RICHARD GOLOMB IN SUPPORT OF JOINT APPLICATION
FOR ATTORNEYS' FEES AND REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPESNES FILED ON
BEHALF OF GOLOMB & HONIK, P.e.
I, Richard Golomb, declare as follows:
1. I am a parner with the law fiim of Golomb & Honik, P.C. I submit this

declaration in support of my firm's application for an award of attorneys' fees and in connection
with services rendered in this case, as well as the reimbursement of expenses incurred by my

firm in connection with this litigation.

2. My firm performed the following tasks, among others, during the litigation: client
intake communication, investigated the facts underlying the litigation, researched applicable

Florida law, drafted pleadings, reviewed and revised pleadings, attended hearings, and
participated in various conferences with co-counsel regarding all aspects of

the case.

3. The schedule attached hereto as Exhibit A is a detailed summary indicating the

amount of time spent by each attorney and paralegal of my firm who was involved in this
i

litigation, and the lodestar calculation based on my firm's current billing rates. For attorneys and

palalegals who are no longer employed by my firm, the lodestar calculation is based upon the
billing rates for such attorneys and paralegals in his or her final year of employment by my firm.
The schedule was prepared fi'om contemporaneous time records regularly prepared and

maintained by my finn, which are available at the request of the Court. Time expended in
preparing this application for fees and reimbursement of expenses has not been included in this
request.
my firm included in Exhibit A

4. The hourly rates for the attorneys and paralegals in

are the same as the regular current rates charged for non-contingent matters and/or which have

been accepted in other litigation.
5. The total number of hours expended on this litigation by my firm is 1436.80
hours. The total

lodestar for my firm is $826,577.50. See Exhibit A.

6. My fmn' s lodestar figures are based upon the firm's billing rates, which rates do
not include charges for expense items. Expense items are billed separately and such charges are
not duplicated in my firms' billing rates.
7. As detailed in Exhibit B, my firm has incuned a total of $18,357.12 11

this litigation.

unreIinbursed expenses in connection with the prosecution of

8. The expenses incurred in this action are reflected in the books and records of my
finn. These books and records are prepared from expense vouchers, check records and other

source materials and are an accurate record of

the expenses IiicUlTed.

-2-

9. With respect to the standing of my firm, attached hereto as Exhibit C is a brief

biography of my firm and attorneys in my firm who were principally involved in this litigation.

Date: Î /z"LJ i ,

(k~Gd~s
Richard Golomb, Esquire

3

EXHIBIT A

Lodestar Summary
GOLOMB & HONIK, P.C.

(PL) Shawnee Carchidi
(PL) Lois Pena
(PL) Elizabeth Malloy

Hours
493.30
436.40
12.80
390.70
11.50
68.50
16.10
7.50

TOTAL

1436.80

Timekeeper
(P) Richard Golomb
(P) Ruben Honik
(A) Stephan Matanovic
(A) Kenneth Grunfeld

(A) Brent Wiend

Timekeeper Status
(P) = Partner
(A) = Attorney
(LC) = Law Clerk
(PL) = Paralegal

Rate
$700
$700
$400
400.00
250.00
125.00
125.00
125.00

.' '.:.

Lodestar
$345,310.00
$305,480.00
$5,120.00
$156,280.00
$2,875.00
$8,562.50
$2,012.50
$937.50

$826,577.50

EXHIBIT B

GOLOMB & HONIK, P.C.
EXPENSE SUMMARY

Expense
Class Notice/Press Release
Mediation
Deposition/T ra nscripts

Filng Fee/court Fees
ExpertConsu It/I nvestigation
Process Server

Travel/Food/Misc.
Telephone/Facsimile
In-house photocopying/printing
Postage/Overn ig ht/Cou rier

Legal Research
TOTAL

Total
$2,010.55
$0.00
$0.00
$50.00
$0.00
$0.00
$14,449.47
$0.00
$900.75
$749.44
$196.91
$18,357.12

lllUOOLOMB

HONIK,p.G.
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Golomb & Honik, P.C. is a boutique Philadelphia law firm that is nationally recognizéd
as having the intellect, persistence, experience, and resources to succeed in the most
challenging cases. We serve clients nationwide in the following practice areas:

· Class Action Litigation

· Commercial/Consumer Litigation
· Toxic, Environmental, and Pharmaceutical Litigation
· Mass Torts

· Personal Injury
Success In The Most Difficult Cases
Over the last 25 years, Golomb & Honik has established an unmatched reputation for
successfully representing those victimized by medical or other professional negligence,
insurance or corporate wrongdoing, complex consumer and commercial transactions,
and significant highway and construction accidents. Many of our greatest successes
have come from cases that other firms declined to handle because of the complexity or
expense. With experience ranging from challenging environmental cases involving
chemicals and other toxins, to the most difficult class action and medical cases, our
team has the intellect, persistence, experience, and resources to produce unmatched
results.
Other lawyers turn to Golomb & Honik with their most important cases. Referrals are a
pillar of our practice. Leading attorneys across the nation refer their complex personal

injury, commercial, and toxic exposure cases to us-particularly those with a class
action or multi-plaintiff component.

A Focused Team

At Golomb & Honik we take an entrepreneurial approach. Every representation
undertaken by the firm receives the highest degree of attention, resources, and skill.
Our boutique size means that we are selective in what we accept and that every client
receives the hands-on attention of a senior partner.

The lawyers at Golomb & Honik are very active in professional and charitable
organizations; our partners have earned leadership positions in regional and national
trial bars and professional associations. We regularly instruct other professionals
through continuing legal education, and undertake pro bono work ranging from the
representation of 9/11 victims to assisting local underprivileged clients through

Volunteers for the Indigent Program.

Principal Profiles

Richard M. Golomb
Mr. Golomb is managing shareholder and a founding partner of Golomb & Honik, P.C.
He has more than twenty-five years experience representing the catastrophically injured
as a result of medical negligence, defective products and pharmaceuticals, construction

accidents and other personal injury claims. For the past fifteen years he has
represented victims of environmental exposures and wronged consumerS in class
action litigation.

Early in his career, Mr. Golomb was an associate, and then shareholder, with a
Philadelphia personal injury firm for eleven years before striking out on his own in 1996.
Since 1998, Mr. Golomb has been a shareholder in Golomb & Honik, P.C. where he has
served as lead or co-counsel in many cases which resulted in million and multi-millon
dollar verdicts and settlements for clients in individual and class action claims.

An active member of the bar, Mr. Golomb has served as President of the Philadeiphia
Trial Lawyers Association; currently sits on the Board of Governors of the Pennsylvania
Trial Lawyers Association; and served as an officer of the American Association for
Justice (formerly A TLA) for three years. As a governor for the American Association for
Justice, Mr. Golomb has twice been recognized with the "Distinguished Service Award",
and was awarded with the "Citation of Excellence" by the American Association for
Justice for his pro bono service representing families victimized by the events of

September 11, 2001. Mr. Golomb also serves as a trustee of the Civil Justice
Foundation, fellow of the Roscoe Pound Institute, and serves as the American
Association for Justice Delegate to the Civil Justice Round Table. Additionally, he
served as an elected member of the Board of Governors of the Philadelphia Bar
Association; as Chair of that body's State Civil Committee; has served two terms as a
hearing offcer for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Disciplinary Board; and sat for four
years on the Judicial Selection and Retention Committee.
Mr. Golomb is a frequent lecturer and author who addresses trial advocacy subjects for
the plaintiffs' and defense bar in areas such as expert witness preparation, evidence,

cross-examination and ethics.
Ruben Honik

Ruben Honik has nearly a quarter century of experience as a civil trial lawyer
representing plaintiffs across a broad range of tort cases. A founding partner of Greitzer

& Honik, Mr. Honik merged his practice with that of Richard Golomb (declared among
the Top 10 lateral moves for the year by the Legal Intelligencer) in 1998 to form Golomb
& Honik. While at the firm, and for many years before that, Mr. Honik has litigated cases

involving defective products, medical and other professional negligence, civil rights
violations, and vehicle and highway design defects. In the more recent past, Mr. Honik

has developed a national practice representing victims of environmental harm,
particularly those exposed to the toxin beryllium in residential and workplace settings.

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In 2001, Mr. Honik was co-lead counsel in Cullen v. Whitman Education Group, a
federal RICO class action certified in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; it resulted in
the largest settlement of its kind against a publicly traded national chain of trade

schools. More recently, in Whisnant, et al. v. General Chemical Corp., Mr. Honik
represented thousands of chemically exposed oil refinery workers in connection with
individual and class claims certified for settlement in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.
A past president of both the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers' Association and the

Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers' Association, Mr. Honik is a frequent lecturer. In addition, he
was the long-time editor of The Verdict, the monthly newsletter of the Philadelphia Trial
Lawyers' Association.

Senior Attorney Profiles
Kenneth J. Grunfeld

Ken joined Golomb & Honik in January, 2010 after many years defending
pharmaceutical manufacturers, national railroads, asbestos companies and corporate
clients in consumer protection, products liability, insurance coverage and other complex
commercial disputes while working at one of Philadelphia's largest and most prestigious

defense firms. He brings with him a unique perspective and a wealth of trial and
appellate work experience in both state and federal courts in cases brought by injured
people, shareholders, State Attorneys General and the U.S. Attorney General's Offce.
In one important personal injury case defending a major pharmaceutical company's
blockbuster medication, he successfully argued a summary judgment motion before the
esteemed Hon. Jack B. Weinstein in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of
New York, securing an early victory for his client and eliminating the need for a triaL.

Today his practice focuses on representing consumers and payors in class actions
against pharmaceutical manufacturers, financial institutions like banks, credits card
companies and insurers, consumer electronics companies and other national corporate

defendants.
Ken received his undergraduate degree in 1996 from the University of Michigan and his

J.D. in 1999 from the Villanova University School of Law. He was a member of the
Villanova Law Review and graduated Order of the Coif.

Attorney Profiles
Damien Zil/as

Damien Zillas graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University at Albany. After
graduation, he worked as a business systems analyst for the New York State
Department of Health, where he gained insight into how large entities manage, store
and report large volumes of data. He then attended and earned a Juris Doctor degree
Temple University's Beasley School of Law. Damien began his legal practice at a large

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defense firm, where his focus was on products liability cases, but also included work on
premises liability and automobile cases as welL. He then took a job with a plaintiffs' firm
that represented clients in medical negligence, catastrophic injury, toxic torts and class
action suits. In this role, he represented a class of healthy individuals who lived in the
same area in a medical monitoring class action. At Golomb and Honik, Damien

represents victims in medical monitoring and consumer class action cases as well as a
range of injured clients.

Brent Wieand

Brent Wieand obtained a Bachelor of Science in Management from Penn State
University and his J.D. from Emory Law SchooL. While in law school, he worked as a

legal intern for the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office and the Internal Revenue
Service, and served as a law clerk for a plaintiff's civil litigation firm in Atlanta, Georgia

while attending law schooL. At Golomb & Honik, Mr. Wieand's practice areas include
class actions, mass tort and individual product liability cases, toxic torts, professional
negligence and personal injury. He is an active member of the Philadelphia Bar

Association, The American Association for Justice, Pennsylvania Association for
Justice, and the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association.

Kevin Fay

Kevin graduated Summa Cum Laude from the New England School of Law in Boston in

2007. After graduation, he worked as an attorney at one of Boston's largest and most

prestigious corporate law firms, where he represented public and private issuers,
underwriters and individual investors in a wide range of transactional work. Kevin joined
Golomb & Honik in 2011. He now represents clients in medical monitoring, toxic tort
and consumer class action cases. Kevin is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, New
Jersey and Massachusetts.

Staff
We have a dedicated and experienced support staff here at Golomb & Honik. While our

clients always get hands-on attention from attorneys, we understand that it takes a
motivated and cohesive team to manage complex cases. A number of our clerks,
paralegals and administrative assistants have over 20 years of legal experience,

specializing in the areas of class action, mass tort, and personal injury litigation.

Wi

GOLOMB

HONIK, Poe.
attorneys at lawl

Representative Cases, Settlements, And Reported Decisions
In Re: Checking Account Overdraft Litigation, MOL No. 2036

Golomb & Honik has brought a number of class action complaints filed in federal court

against national banks that have wrongfully employed unfair and illegal business
practices in charging overdraft fees to dramatically increase the likelihood customers
using debit, ATM, or check cards will overdraw their accounts and be assessed fees.
We are also proud to serve as one of only a handful of firms to serve on the Plaintiffs'
Executive Committee in a coordinated, nationwide effort to bring to these banks to
justice on behalf of millions of Americans that have paid billions of dollars in overdraft
fees to banks. In the first overdraft case litigated, a judge ordered Wells Fargo to pay
over $200 million to a class of injured California bank customers. Recently, Bank of
America has agreed to settle with a nationwide class of plaintiffs for $410 Millon.
Federal Express Class Action

Golomb & Honik sued Federal Express in the United States District Court for the Middle

District of Florida on behalf of over 200 truckers over wrongfully-terminated hauling
contracts. Despite an express clause in the contracts, Federal Express failed to provide
the truckers with proper notice of termination.
In Re: Budeprion XL Marketing & Sales Litigation, MOL No. 2107

Golomb & Honik has brought a number of class action complaints filed in federal courts

against the manufacturer and distributor of a generic version of a popular antidepressant medication under the Consumer Protection Laws of California and other
states. We also serve as liaison counsel in an MOL proceeding in the United States

District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. United States District Judge
Berle Schiller has denied defendants' Motion to Dismiss based on the preemption
defense and plaintiffs now seek certification of the proposed class.
Credit Card Payment Protection

Golomb & Honik leads a collaboration of firms bringing dozens of class action
complaints filed in federal courts across the country against over ten credit card
companies regarding "Payment Protection plans", an add-on product of virtually no
value wrongfully marketed and sold to unsuspecting credit card holders. Nationwide

settlements have been reached in actions against at least four credit card companies
resulting in over $100 million in settlements for class members.
Ford Windstar Class Action

Golomb and Honik represent a national consumer class of owners of approximately one
million Ford Windstars. Ford designed, developed and installed defective rear axles for

these vehicles, using an inexpensive, stamped metal product. Consumers purchased a
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vehicle that would literally fall apart before its normal useful lifetime. Indeed, there
exists a real possibility that these axles could break while these vehicles, marketed
specifically to families, are operated at highway speed, causing serious injury or
fatalities. After Golomb and Honik filed this lawsuit, Ford instigated a recall of these
vehicles to fix or replace the defective rear axles.
MatteI Lead Paint Class Action

Golomb & Honik successfully represented plaintiffs in nationwide class action litigation
against a toy manufacturer distributing dangerous products to consumers. We served
on the Plaintiffs' Executive Committee and helped to negotiate a favorable settlement in
plaintiffs' actions seeking medical monitoring.
Suzuki GSX-R1000 Motorcycle Class Action Settement

Golomb & Honik negotiated a confidential settlement on behalf of a class of more than

26,000 members for damages allegedly caused from a design defect in the 2005 and
2006 models of the "sport bike" motorcycles. After this lawsuit was brought, Suzuki
initiated a voluntary safety recall to enhance the frame strength and safety. The United
States District Court for the Southern District of Florida -- Miami Division approved the
settlement.
In Re Sterling Financial Corporation Securities Class Action

Golomb & Honik facilitated settlement of a multimillion dollar matter on behalf of
thousands of investors who were injured as a result of alleged violations of federal law.

In the summer of 2009, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of
Pennsylvania created a $10.25 million settlement fund for the benefit of those investors

who acquired stock from 2004 through 2007 at allegedly inflated prices. It was
estimated that $13.5 million shares were damaged as a result of fraud.

Cullen, et al. v. Whitman Medical Corporation d/b/a Whitman Education Group,
Inc., et al., 197 F.R.D. 136 (E.D. Pa. 2000)

Golomb & Honik represented current and former students who sued a national
vocational school, alleging that they had been fraudulently misled as to the education
they would receive. Golomb & Honik served as co-lead counsel in this groundbreaking

consumer class action in which plaintiffs and absent national class members sought
education from a publicly traded corporation in the field of diagnostic medical

sonography. Golomb & Honik succeeded in demonstrating the chain of schools
fraudulently misrepresented the nature of the ultrasound program and otherwise failed
to provide the education represented. Students received federally guaranteed student
loans but were largely unable to obtain promised jobs in their area of study. The school
had no meaningful admissions criteria and often hired unqualified administrative and
educational personneL. Field placements did not materialize, and students were

unprepared to take qualifying exams. Students were stuck with loan repayments for

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which they received little or nothing in return. In approving certification of the class, and
later the class settlement, the United States District Court said of counsel representing
plaintiffs that "(t)he skill of each of these attorneys is reflected both in settlement and in
the aggressive manner in which they pursued this litigation from start to finish." Cullen,

197 F.R.D. at 149. The Court noted in conclusion, "the highly skilled class counsel
provided excellent representation both for named plaintiffs and absent class members."
Id. The class settlement of $7.3 million was the largest common fund of its kind.

Whisnant, et al. v. General Chemical Corp., et al., No. 99-12286, Court of
Common Please of Delaware County, Pa.

Golomb & Honik successfully represented dozens of individual workers-and a class of
more than 1,000 additional workers-in a case arising from ongoing occupational

exposure to sulfur dioxide and sulfur trioxide in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. For
more than a decade, workers at an oil processing facility were exposed to emissions of

sulfur dioxide and sulfur trioxide gasses from a neighboring plant. Those emissions
caused reactive airways disease and occupational asthma in many workers. In addition,
many others were exposed and require medical monitoring to detect the potential onset
of pulmonary disease. Following years of protracted litigation, and the bankruptcy of the
defendant polluter, Golomb & Honik achieved a multi-million dollar settlement against

the bankrupt polluter, instead of the pennies on the dollar that many other creditors
received.
Debiec v. Cabot Corp., et a/., 352 F .3d 117 (3d Cir. 2003)

Golomb & Honik represented the plaintiffs in this seminal decision on the discovery rule
and the statute of limitations in latent disease cases involving beryllium exposure.

Summary judgment was overturned resulting in multi-million dollar settlements for
estates of victims, the first of numerous cases for this affected community of exposed

persons.
$1.5 Milion for Estate of9/11 Victim

On September 11, 2001, a motivational speaker giving a speech in the World Trade
Center was one of the thousands who lost his life after airplanes struck the twin towers
in a terrorist attack. In response to that tragic day, the Association of Trial Lawyers of
America created Trial Lawyers Care (TLC). TLC was a group of more than 2,000
lawyers from across the country who, on a pro bono basis, represented the victims of
9/11 and their families as they negotiated a complicated compensation system

established by Congress. Golomb & Honik lawyers had the privilege of representing the

motivational speaker's family in this process-compiling hundreds of pages of
documents, completing the extensive forms necessary to obtain an "award" through the
compensation system, hiring economic experts, and attending a hearing in New York.
His family received more than $1.5 million.

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HONIK., RC.
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Additionally, Golomb & Honik has received more than 50 verdicts or
settlements in excess of $1 milion for thêir clients in individual cases.

ll GOtOMB

HONIK, He.
attmGYs at .raw I