Stevens v. General Cable Corporation

Filing 35

ORDER granting in part and denying in part 34 Motion for Attorney Fees. Plaintiff's attorney shall pay Defendant General Cable Corporation $4,000.00 within 30 days of this Order. See Order for Specifics. Signed by Judge G. Patrick Murphy on 05/20/2009. (njr)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS JEFF STEVENS, Plaintiff, vs. GENERAL CABLE CORPORATION, Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

CIVIL NO. 07-889-GPM

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
MURPHY, District Judge: Defendant General Cable Corporation has filed a motion for attorneys' fees, costs, and expenses (see Doc. 34) as directed by the Court in its February 27, 2009, Order dismissing this case with prejudice (see Doc. 32). While the Court agrees that payment of reasonable expenses is justified (see Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(b)(2)(C) and (d)(3)), the amount sought by Defendant's counsel is unreasonably high. The motion to dismiss filed by Defendant is six pages long (seven, if you include the signature page). The Court fails to see how this could have required 9.9 hours of an attorney's time (see Doc. 34).1 Similarly, the amount sought for "review, analysis and preparation of pleadings" and "preparation for and drafting of discovery" is unnecessarily inflated. Defendant's motion for attorneys' fees, costs, and expenses (Doc. 34) is GRANTED in part

Counsel represents that the law firm Blank Rome billed approximately 3.9 hours for the motion to dismiss and local counsel, the Hepler Broom law firm, billed approximately 6.0 hours. This is over one hour per page for a motion that consists only of factual allegations and very few citations to case law. Page 1 of 2

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and DENIED in part. After careful consideration, the Court finds that General Cable is entitled to $4,000.00, representing $2,000.00 for the preparation of pleadings and $2,000.00 for discovery. The Court further orders that this amount shall be paid by Plaintiff's attorney, not Plaintiff himself, as it is the duty of the attorney advising a party to respond to discovery and prosecute a case, not the party himself. This sanction shall be paid to defense counsel within 30 days of this Order. In addition to the electronic distribution, the Clerk of Court shall mail a copy of this Order to Plaintiff's counsel, via certified mail, return-receipt requested. IT IS SO ORDERED. DATED: 5/20/09 s/ ZA ctàÜ|v~ `âÜÑ{ç G. Patrick Murphy United States District Judge

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