Thomas et al v. Chambers et al

Filing 230

ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS 227 . Accordingly, the Court ORDERS that plaintiffs' counsel pay McNabb a travel expense of $155.61 for roundtrip mileage from Lafayette to New Orleans, and a rate of $300.00 per hour fo r two hours of travel time. FURTHER ORDERED that defense counsel shall bear the remaining $600.00 expense. FURTHER ORDERED that McNabb's deposition rate is $600.00 per hour, and that plaintiffs' counsel shall pay McNabb that rate, prorated in quarter-hour increments for any testimony beyond one hour, as reflected by the stop time indicated in the deposition transcript. Signed by Judge Sarah S. Vance on 12/8/2021.(sbs)

Case 2:18-cv-04373-SSV-KWR Document 230 Filed 12/08/21 Page 1 of 3

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
KIERRA THOMAS, ET AL.

CIVIL ACTION

VERSUS

NO. 18-4373

RANDALL CHAMBERS, ET AL.

SECTION “R” (4)
ORDER

On April 23, 2019, plaintiffs Kierra Thomas, Antoine Clark, and Shirley
Harris filed a motion to set expert fees owed to defendants’ life-care planning
expert, Stanford McNabb. 1 On April 24, 2019, the Court referred plaintiffs’
motion to Magistrate Judge Karen Wells Roby.2
On October 12, 2021, Magistrate Judge Roby issued a Report and
Recommendation (“R&R”) on the motion, recommending that plaintiffs’
counsel pay McNabb a travel expense of $155.61 for roundtrip mileage from
Lafayette, Louisiana, to New Orleans, and a rate of $300.00 per hour for two
hours of travel time.3 Magistrate Judge Roby further recommended that
defense counsel who designated the location of the deposition should bear
the remaining $600.00 expense. 4

Magistrate Judge Roby also

recommended that McNabb’s deposition rate be set at $600.00 per hour,
1
2
3
4

R. Doc. 179.
R. Doc. 182.
R. Doc. 227 at 16.
Id. at 16-17.

Case 2:18-cv-04373-SSV-KWR Document 230 Filed 12/08/21 Page 2 of 3

and that plaintiffs’ counsel pay him that rate, prorated in quarter-hour
increments for any testimony beyond one hour, as reflected by the stop time
indicated in the deposition transcript. 5
No party objected to the R&R. Therefore, the Court reviews the R&R
for clear error. Douglass v. United Servs. Auto. Ass’n, 79 F.3d 1415, 1430
(5th Cir. 1996); see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(b) advisory committee’s note
(1983) (“When no timely objection is filed, the court need only satisfy itself
that there is no clear error on the face of the record in order to accept the
recommendation.”). The Court finds no clear error. Therefore, the Court
adopts Magistrate Judge Roby’s R&R as its opinion.
Accordingly, the Court ORDERS that plaintiffs’ counsel pay McNabb a
travel expense of $155.61 for roundtrip mileage from Lafayette to New
Orleans, and a rate of $300.00 per hour for two hours of travel time. The
Court FURTHER ORDERS that defense counsel shall bear the remaining
$600.00 expense. 6

The Court FURTHER ORDERS that McNabb’s

deposition rate is $600.00 per hour, and that plaintiffs’ counsel shall pay
McNabb that rate, prorated in quarter-hour increments for any testimony

5
6

Id. at 17.
Id. at 16-17.
2

Case 2:18-cv-04373-SSV-KWR Document 230 Filed 12/08/21 Page 3 of 3

beyond one hour, as reflected by the stop time indicated in the deposition
transcript.

8th
New Orleans, Louisiana, this _____ day of December, 2021.

_____________________
SARAH S. VANCE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

3