Schoolcraft v. The City Of New York et al

Filing 560

DECLARATION of Joshua P. Fitch (Master Declaration) in Support re: 559 MOTION for Attorney Fees , Costs and Disbursements.. Document filed by Adrian Schoolcraft. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A - Declaration of Jon L. Norinsberg, Esq., # 2 Exhibit B - Declaration of Nathaniel Smith, Esq., # 3 Exhibit C - Declaration of Joshua P. Fitch, Esq., # 4 Exhibit D - Declaration of Gerald M. Cohen, Esq., # 5 Exhibit E - Declaration of John Lenoir, Esq., # 6 Exhibit F - Declaration of Howard A. Suckle, Esq., # 7 Exhibit G - Declaration of Magdalena Bauza, # 8 Exhibit H - Billing Entries and Costs for Jon L. Norinsberg, Esq., # 9 Exhibit I - Billing Entries and Costs for Nathaniel Smith, Esq., # 10 Exhibit J - Billing Entries for Joshua P. Fitch, Esq., # 11 Exhibit K - Billing Entries and Costs for Gerald M. Cohen, Esq., # 12 Exhibit L - Billing Entries for John Lenoir, Esq., # 13 Exhibit M - Billing Entries for Howard A. Suckle, Esq., # 14 Exhibit N - Billing Entries for Magdalena Bauza, # 15 Exhibit O - Declaration of Jonathan Abady, Esq. in support of the hourly rate of Jon L. Norinsberg, Esq., # 16 Exhibit P - Declaration of Christopher Galiardo, Esq. in support of the hourly rate of Jon L. Norinsberg, Esq., # 17 Exhibit Q - Declaration of Afsaan Saleem, Esq. in support of the hourly rate of Jon L. Norinsberg, Esq., # 18 Exhibit R - Declaration of Michael L. Spiegel, Esq. in support of the hourly rate of Nathaniel Smith, Esq., # 19 Exhibit S - Declaration of Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma, Esq. in support of the hourly rate of Joshua P. Fitch, Esq. and Gerald M. Cohen, Esq., partners of Cohen & Fitch LLP, # 20 Exhibit T - Declaration of Irving Cohen, Esq. in support of the hourly rate of Joshua P. Fitch, Esq. and Gerald M. Cohen, Esq., partners of Cohen & Fitch LLP, # 21 Exhibit U - Declaration of Katherine Smith, Esq. in support of the hourly rate of Joshua P. Fitch, Esq. and Gerald M. Cohen, Esq., partners of Cohen & Fitch LLP, # 22 Exhibit V - Declaration of Hugh M. Mo, Esq. in support of the hourly rate of John Lenoir, Esq., # 23 Exhibit W - Declaration of Jeffrey Schlanger, Esq. in support of the hourly rate of John Lenoir, Esq., # 24 Exhibit X - Declaration of David Finkler, Esq. in support of the hourly rate of Howard A. Suckle, Esq., # 25 Exhibit Y - Declaration of Mitchell Bloch, Esq. in support of the hourly rate of Howard A. Suckle, Esq., # 26 Exhibit Z - 2013-2014 National Law Journal Billing Survey of Large Firm Billing Rates, # 27 Exhibit AA - 2013-2014 New York City Law Department Year in Review for the Special Federal Litigation Division, # 28 Exhibit BB - New York City Law Department Special Federal Litigation Homepage, # 29 Exhibit CC - Verdict Search's Top Verdicts of 2013, # 30 Exhibit DD - Super Lawyers 2015 Annual List of Top Lawyers in the New York Metro Area, # 31 Exhibit EE - Order in Bernabe v. City of New York, 13 CV 5531 (LGS) relating to Mr. Norinsberg's hourly rate)(Fitch, Joshua)

EXHIBIT
“T”

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
-X

ADRIAN SCHOOLCRAFT,
Plaintiff,

Declaration of Irving
Cohen

-againstTHE CITY OF NEW YORK et al,

10 CV 6005 (RWS)
Defendant.
X

Irving Cohen, an attorney admitted to practice in the State of New York, declares,
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746, under penalty of perjury, as follows:
1. I am the principal attorney of the Law Office of Irving Cohen, Attomey-at-Law. I submit

this Declaration in support of the attorneys' fee application submitted in the above captioned

matter by plaintiffs' counsel, Gerald M. Cohen and Joshua P. Fitch, the partners at Cohen &
Fitch LLP, attorneys whom I have known for over one year.
2. I received my law degree from New York University School of Law in 1967 I received

an L.L.M from the same law school in 1977.1 am a member in good standing of the New York
State bar and am admitted to practice in the Second Circuit, the Southern and Eastern Districts of
New York, and the Supreme Court of the United States.
3. I started the practice of law in 1969 with a small firm and within a few years, became a
partner. In 1981,1 began practicing in my own firm specializing in criminal and civil litigation.

4. For about eight years, I taught law at John Jay College, part of the City University.
5. For at least the last twenty years, I have taught law students as part of the NITA program
at Cardozo Law School.

6. In my practice, I regularly litigate criminal and civil cases in both federal and state court.
I am a member of the Criminal Justice Act ("CJA") panel for the Southern District of New York.

7. Additionally, I regularly litigate federal civil rights actions brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C.
§ 1983 in federal court. In April last year, 1 tried a civil rights case in the Southern District of
New York which resulted in a himg jury. In the middle of a retrial of that case in January of this
year, the case was settled.

8. 1 have consulted on several matters with both of the partners of Cohen & Fitch LLP on

several occasions and have referred civil rights cases to them.
9. 1 have been impressed by how both Gerald M. Cohen and Joshua P. Fitch conducted

themselves. They are well prepared, knowledgeable and a credit to federal civil rights practice.
They have always presented themselves with utmost professionalism and have proved to be
skilled litigators.

10. Accordingly, based upon my forty-five (45) years of experience as a lawyer practicing in

Federal Courts throughout New York, 1 support both Gerald M. Cohen's and Joshua P. Fitch's
requested hourly rates of $500 as reasonable, and in line with the prevailing rates for an attorney
of their caliber, experience and reputation in the Southern District of New York.

DATED: New York, New York

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November 16,2015

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