Crawley v Michigan Department of Human Services, Director of , et al

Filing 55

ORDER for Payment of Fees and Costs re 50 Motion for Attorney Fees. Signed by District Judge Denise Page Hood. (JOwe)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
SOUTHERN DIVISION
CHANDE CRAWLEY, PENNY CARSON,
and LINDA BIRMINGHAM, on behalf of
themselves and all others similarly situated,
Plaintiffs,
v

Case No. 08-14040
Hon. Denise Page Hood

MAURA CORRIGAN, in her official
capacity as Director of the Michigan
Department of Human Services,
and
OLGA DAZZO, in her official
capacity as Director of the Michigan
Department of Community Health,
Defendants.
_____________________________________/
ORDER FOR PAYMENT OF FEES AND COSTS
This matter is before the Court on the Joint Motion for Approval of
Attorneys’ Fees and Costs (‘‘Fees Settlement”). The Court has considered the
Parties’ submissions, and any Objections filed by members of the class, and has
been fully advised after adequate notice to the class.
The Court is satisfied that the Parties’ proposed settlement of $191,900 to be
paid by Defendants to the Center for Civil Justice (“Class Counsel”) for fees and
costs incurred through July 28, 2011 (excluding certain fees for monitoring
activities subsequent to June 30, 2011). The Court is further satisfied that the
Parties’ proposal for payments to Class Counsel for time reasonably spent on

08-14040 Crawley v. MI Dept of Human Services, Director of, et al
Order for Payment of Fees and Costs
monitoring the Defendants’ implementation of the Final Order and Settlement
Agreement in this case is reasonable insofar as it provides for periodic payments for
time reasonably spent by attorneys Stangl and Doig at the rate of $300 per hour,
other attorneys at the rate of $275, and paraprofessionals at the rate of $100 per
hour.
The settlement of $191,900 represents a reasonable and adequate payment
for time reasonably spent and costs reasonably incurred by Class Counsel, at a
reasonable rate. The rates to be paid for reasonable monitoring activities likewise
are reasonable.
This case involves enforcement of rights under the federal Medicaid statue
and its enforcing regulations, an area of law known for its complexity. See, e.g.
Michigan Dep’t of Social Serv. v. Sec’y of Health and Human Serv., 744 F.2d 32, 35
(6th Cir. 1984) (quoting Schweiker v. Gray Panthers, 453 U.S. 34, 43 (1981)). The
Court previously found the case “is legally, but not factually, complex.” It is fair to
say that the case involves “novel or difficult questions” and required significant skill
to identify and enforce Plaintiff’s legal rights, within the meaning of the second and
third factors identified in Johnson v. Georgia Highway Express, Inc.
The results obtained for the Plaintiff Class were significant, including
prospective changes in state Medicaid policies and practices, changes to the state
computer system for processing Medicaid eligibility, individual notice and
opportunity to file claims for retroactive Medicaid coverage for prospective class

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08-14040 Crawley v. MI Dept of Human Services, Director of, et al
Order for Payment of Fees and Costs
members, thousands of class members had Medicaid coverage reinstated or
extended as the result of the outcome of the case.
The attorneys of record, Stangl and Doig, are experienced in litigation of this
nature, as reflected in their resumes. Each has more than 27 years’ experience
representing low-income individuals in the enforcement of rights under federal
governmental assistance programs. This case involved legally complex issues of
federal Medicaid law and § 1983 jurisdiction, and the results achieved for the
Plaintiff class were significant. Attorneys Stangl and Doig have documented more
than 600 hours work reasonably spent on this case, together with more than 25
hours of work by other attorneys and more than 130 hours spent by
paraprofessionals. In addition, Class Counsel have documented reasonable costs of
travel incurred in connection with this case.
The proposed hourly rates are reasonable. This Court last awarded fees to
Ms. Stangl and Ms. Doig at the rate of $240 per hour in 2008, for time spent from
2003-2007 in the case of Schott v. Haveman, CV 96-75364, (Doc. 192 in Case
2:960cv-75364-DPH). At the time the fees were being decided in Schott, the most
recent Economics of Law Survey for Michigan was from 2003.1 In 2003, hourly
rates for attorneys included:
Downtown DetroitStatewide20-29 years practice-

Mean $238 75th percentile $306 95th percentile $440
Mean $177 75th percentile $200 95th percentile $295
Mean $188 75th percentile $225 95th percentile $290.

The Economics of Law Practice summaries of survey results are available online at
http://www.michbar.org/opinions/content.cfm.
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08-14040 Crawley v. MI Dept of Human Services, Director of, et al
Order for Payment of Fees and Costs
In 2010, the most recent Economics of Law Survey was conducted and the hourly
rates for attorneys included:
Downtown DetroitStatewide26-30 years’ practice-

Mean $255 75th percentile $375 95th percentile $525
Mean $236 75th percentile $278 95th percentile $425
Mean $248 75th percentile $300 95th percentile $425.2

In addition, the attached analysis of hourly rates in Wayne County, from the 2010
Survey results, shows for Civil Rights attorneys in Wayne County the mean rate is
$292 an hour and the 75th percentile is $300 an hour; for Health and Hospital
attorneys in Wayne County the mean rate is $286 an hour and the 75th percentile is
$400 an hour (See Exhibit D). The 2007 Economics of Law Practice in Michigan is
the most recent report on hourly rates for paralegals in Michigan, and it found the
mean hourly billing rate was $106.50.
For the reasons stated above,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED:
1.

The Parties Joint Motion for Approval of Attorney Fees and Costs

[Docket No. 50, filed July 18, 2011] is GRANTED.
2.

Defendants shall pay to the Center for Civil Justice the sum of

$191,900 for attorneys’ fees and costs for the period 2007 through July 28, 2011,
under 42 U.S.C. § 1988, excluding monitoring activities conducted on or after July
1, 2011 (July 6, 2011 for attorney Stangl). Neither Plaintiffs nor Plaintiffs’ counsel
will recover any additional fees, costs, expenses or expenditures of any kind from
Defendants for this time period, except for monitoring activities conducted from

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08-14040 Crawley v. MI Dept of Human Services, Director of, et al
Order for Payment of Fees and Costs
July 1, 2011 (July 6, 2011 for Stangl) through the date of this motion and
Defendants are released from any such further payments.
2.

Plaintiffs’ counsel may seek reimbursement from Defendants for their

reasonable time and expenses in monitoring Defendants’ implementation of, and
compliance with, the settlement. The settlement contemplated that such
monitoring activities would continue as long as the Settlement Agreement remains
in effect [i.e. until the Court makes a finding that Defendants have complied with
the Order for 12 months’ subsequent to entry of the Final Order (Doc. 45, p. 4,
incorporating Doc. 37-2)]. Plaintiffs’ counsel may periodically request
reimbursement at the rates of $300/hour for Ms. Doig and Ms. Stangl, $275 for
other attorneys’ time, and at $100/hour for paralegal/non-attorneys during the time
the Settlement Agreement remains in effect. Defendants shall be responsible for
reimbursement of time reasonably spent for monitoring Defendants’
implementation of, and compliance with, the settlement, at the stated rates, and the
parties shall work in good faith to ensure reimbursement occurs without the need
for further action by the Court. However, Class Counsel shall retain the right to
move for an order for fees and costs if differences between the parties as to
reimbursement, implementation, or compliance cannot be resolved.
Dated: December 21, 2011

s/Denise Page Hood
DENISE PAGE HOOD
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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08-14040 Crawley v. MI Dept of Human Services, Director of, et al
Order for Payment of Fees and Costs
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing document was mailed to the attorneys of
record on this date, Wednesday, December 21, 2011, by electronic and/or ordinary
mail.
s/Julie Owens
Case Manager, [phone]

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