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)

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EXHIBIT “U” UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK -X ADRIAN SCHOOLCRAFT, Plaintiff, Declaration of Katharine £. Smith -againstTHE CITY OF NEW YORK et al. 10 CV 6005 (RWS) Defendant. -X I, KATHERINE E. SMITH, an attorney admitted to practice in the State of New York, declares, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746, under penalty of peijury, as follows: 1. I am the principal attorney of the Law Office of Katherine E. Smith. 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 several years. 2. I received my law degree from New York University School of law in 2007. I am a member in good standing of the New York State bar and am admitted to practice in the Southern, Eastern and Northern Districts of New York. 3. Upon graduation from law school, I worked as an Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of New York in the Special Federal Litigation Division where I defended New York City Police Officers and Correction Officers from civil rights law suits. 4. Thereafter, in 2011, I began working for the Mun^ay Frank LLP where I participated in the prosecution of numerous multimillion dollar class actions in state and federal court. 5. Soon before the dissolution of Murray Frank LLP I stopped working for the firm, and in 2012 I established my own practice. 6. I regularly litigate federal civil rights actions brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in federal court. I have litigated over 250 federal civil law suits in my career. 7. Moreover, in my practice, I regularly try civil rights cases in both the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. 8. I have served as co-counsel on several matters with both of the partners of Cohen & Fitch LLP and have tried two cases in the Southern District with Gerald M. Cohen, securing a plaintiffs victory on both. 9. I have been impressed by the knowledge, experience, and professionalism of both Gerald M. Cohen and Joshua P. Fitch. They advocate zealously for their clients, and are well respected by their colleagues, clients and adversaries. They have consistently proven to be highly skilled litigators who are a credit to the federal civil rights bar. 10. Accordingly, based upon my eight (8) years of experience as a lawyer practicing in Federal Courts throughout New York, I 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 Eastern District of New York. DATED: New York, New York November 19, 2015 rSMITH

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