Knight v. New York State Department of Corrections
- Kenneth Karas
- 7:18-cv-07172
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Knight v. New York State Department of Corrections, Judge Karas granted an application reducing Dr. Sultan’s deposition fee.
The ruling affected Dr. Ray Sultan’s compensation for five hours of deposition testimony and the parties responsible for addressing that fee. The defendants’ application was granted, and the requested $4,000 flat fee was replaced with a rate of $350 per hour.
What happened
Knight v. New York State Department of Corrections involved the defendants’ request to reduce the fee charged by Dr. Ray Sultan for five hours of deposition testimony. Dr. Sultan had requested a $4,000 flat fee.
The court rejected the plaintiffs’ argument that flat fees should be questioned only when they are unusually high. It explained that expert deposition fees generally should reflect the time actually spent, and that Dr. Sultan’s requested fee would equal $800 per hour, more than his $350 hourly preparation rate.
The court granted the defendants’ application and awarded Dr. Sultan $350 per hour for the five hours of deposition testimony. Judge Kenneth M. Karas issued the order.
The detailed version
- Knight v. New York State Department of Corrections · No. 7:18-cv-07172
- Kenneth Karas
- Aug. 12, 2021
Issue
The court considered the defendants’ application to reduce the fee requested by Dr. Ray Sultan for deposition testimony.
Background
Dr. Sultan requested a $4,000 flat fee for five hours of deposition testimony. The plaintiffs opposed the requested reduction and argued, among other things, that the fee should be evaluated as an hourly rate of $500 and that courts’ concerns about flat fees should be limited to unusually extreme demands.
Court’s reasoning
The court stated that it generally is not reasonable to request a flat fee for deposition testimony regardless of the number of hours actually spent. It relied on decisions explaining that expert flat fees are generally unreasonable because compensation should have a reasonable relationship to the services provided. The court rejected the proposed distinction based on the size of the fee, explaining that courts’ skepticism toward flat-fee arrangements is not limited to extreme situations.
The court also stated that, even if it evaluated the fee by converting it to an hourly rate, the calculation would be $800 per hour—not $500 per hour—because $4,000 divided by five hours equals $800. The court noted that this exceeded Dr. Sultan’s $350 hourly rate for deposition preparation and that $350 per hour was the only hourly rate appearing in his invoice.
Ruling
The court granted the defendants’ application to reduce Dr. Sultan’s fee. It awarded Dr. Sultan an hourly rate of $350 for the five hours of deposition testimony. Judge Kenneth M. Karas signed the order.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.