McCormack v. Westland et al

Filing 98

ORDER Denying 91 Petition for Attorney's Fees as Moot and Without Prejudice. Signed by District Judge Matthew F. Leitman. (HMon)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
SOUTHERN DIVISION
MARIA MCCORMACK,
Plaintiff,

Case No. 15-cv-14507
Hon. Matthew F. Leitman

v.
CITY OF WESTLAND, et al.,
Defendants.
_________________________________/
ORDER DENYING PETITION FOR ATTORNEY’S FEES (ECF
#91) AS MOOT AND WITHOUT PREJUDICE
On July 30, 2018, Plaintiff's former counsel, Elizabeth Downey, filed a
petition for attorney’s fees. (See ECF #91.) Ms. Downey well deserves a fee award
in this action because she obtained a very favorable settlement for Plaintiff.
However, as this Court explained in a series of earlier orders (see ECF ## 90, 94,
97), Plaintiff refused to execute the documentation necessary to finalize the
settlement, and for that reason the Court dismissed this action with prejudice –
without any payment from Defendants to Plaintiff. (See ECF #97.) Absent a
payment to Plaintiff, there is no source of funds for an attorney’s fee award.
Accordingly, Ms. Downey's request for a fee award is DENIED AS MOOT. This
denial is WITHOUT PREJUDICE. In the event that this action is reinstated and a

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payment made to Plaintiff, this Court would revisit the fee petition and likely enter
a fee award in Ms. Downey's favor.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
s/Matthew F. Leitman
MATTHEW F. LEITMAN
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Dated: September 24, 2018
I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing document was served upon the
parties and/or counsel of record on September 24, 2018, by electronic means and/or
ordinary mail.
s/Holly A. Monda
Case Manager
[phone]

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