National Association for the Advancement of Colored People v. East Ramapo…

Background

The plaintiffs sued East Ramapo Central School District and MaryEllen Elia, in her capacity as New York’s Commissioner of Education, seeking an injunction under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Elia was later dismissed from the action. After a bench trial, Judge Cathy Seibel found that the District’s at-large system for electing Board of Education members violated the Voting Rights Act and barred the District from holding further elections under that system. Judge Seibel also found that the plaintiffs were entitled to attorneys’ fees and costs, including expert fees.

The plaintiffs’ counsel—Latham & Watkins, LLP and the New York Civil Liberties Union—filed a motion seeking compensation for approximately 18,764 hours of work, along with expert fees and litigation costs. The District opposed the motion. The opinion is a Report and Recommendation submitted to Judge Seibel by United States Magistrate Judge Judith C. McCarthy; it is not described as a final ruling by Judge Seibel.

Attorneys’ Fees

The court used the lodestar method, which generally calculates fees by multiplying reasonable hourly rates by the reasonable number of hours worked. It recommended reducing requested rates for several Latham attorneys, paralegal Natalie Sagara, and trial technology consultant Jon Walton because the plaintiffs had not provided enough information about some timekeepers’ experience or because the requested rates were excessive. It found the requested rates for NYCLU attorneys Perry Grossman and Kevin Jason reasonable, as well as certain other rates after reduction.

The court found that Latham’s team was excessively staffed and that its billing records showed duplication, excessive attendance at trial and depositions, and unnecessary internal communications. It also found that some work concerning a motion to obtain discovery from an earlier case and subpoenas directed to the District’s lead counsel was not compensable. The court therefore recommended a 25% reduction in Latham’s billed hours. It recommended a 2% reduction in NYCLU’s hours because the billing records appeared to include some time related to the withdrawn preliminary-injunction motion. After the rate and hour reductions, the recommended attorneys’ fee award was $3,714,834.38.

Expert Fees and Costs

The plaintiffs sought $192,463.92 for three experts: William Cooper, Dr. Barreto, and Dr. Collingwood. Because the District did not challenge those amounts and the court found them reasonable, it recommended awarding the full amount.

The plaintiffs also sought costs. The court found most of the requested costs reasonable but rejected $52,467.86 for conference space used as a trial “war room” and reduced related technology costs by $11,393.66. It recommended a total costs award of $426,398.03.

Recommendation and Notice

The court recommended that the plaintiffs’ motion be granted in part and denied in part, with awards of $3,714,834.38 in attorneys’ fees, $192,463.92 in expert fees, and $426,398.03 in costs, totaling $4,333,696.33. The parties were given 14 days after receiving the Report and Recommendation to file written objections. Judge Cathy Seibel was identified as the judge to whom objections should be submitted.