New York City Transit Authority v. Express Scripts, Inc.
- Jesse Furman
- 1:19-cv-05196
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In New York City Transit Authority v. Express Scripts, Judge Furman awarded Express Scripts $127,171.98 in fees, costs, and reduced consultant expenses.
Express Scripts, Inc. received the fee and expense award; the New York City Transit Authority was ordered to pay $127,171.98 within thirty days.
What happened
In New York City Transit Authority v. Express Scripts, Inc., an earlier order required the New York City Transit Authority to reimburse Express Scripts for reasonable fees and costs related to additional discovery and a reconsideration motion. Express Scripts requested attorney’s fees, costs, and expenses for its consultant, Berkeley Research Group.
The Transit Authority did not object to the requested attorney’s fees or costs, but it objected to all of the Berkeley Research Group expenses. The court rejected that categorical objection, explaining that the governing discovery rule allows reimbursement of reasonable expenses caused by a discovery failure. But the court found that Express Scripts had not provided enough information to establish that all of the consultant expenses were reasonable.
Judge Jesse M. Furman awarded the uncontested attorney’s fees and costs and reduced the consultant-related expenses by 75 percent. The court awarded Express Scripts a total of $127,171.98 and ordered the Transit Authority to pay within thirty days.
The detailed version
- New York City Transit Authority v. Express Scripts, Inc. · No. 1:19-cv-05196
- Jesse Furman
- Oct. 12, 2022
Background
In an August 19, 2022 Opinion and Order, the court directed the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) to reimburse Express Scripts, Inc. for reasonable fees and costs incurred in conducting additional discovery after the court’s summary-judgment ruling and in bringing a motion for reconsideration. The award was based on Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(c)(1)(A), which allows payment of reasonable expenses, including attorney’s fees, caused by a discovery failure.
Express Scripts requested $88,401.25 in attorney’s fees, $5,023.10 in costs, and $134,990.51 in expenses connected to its consultant, Berkeley Research Group (BRG). NYCTA did not object to the attorney’s fees or costs, and the court awarded those amounts.
BRG Expenses
NYCTA first argued that the BRG expenses were outside the scope of the court’s earlier award because that order referred to “reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs.” The court overruled that objection. It explained that this wording was an imprecise description of the amount available under Rule 37(c)(1)(A), not an intended limitation excluding otherwise reimbursable expenses.
The court agreed, however, that Express Scripts had not supplied enough information to show that the BRG expenses were reasonable. The submission did not provide rate information or demonstrate that the rates were reasonable in the market. It also provided little explanation of BRG’s assignment or the work performed, and its time entries lacked sufficient detail. The court noted that Express Scripts acknowledged that some BRG work was not reimbursable.
Ruling
Judge Furman used the court’s authority to make an across-the-board reduction rather than review every entry individually. The court determined that a 75% reduction was appropriate, leaving $33,747.63 in reimbursable BRG-related expenses.
The court awarded Express Scripts a total of $127,171.98: $88,401.25 in attorney’s fees, $5,023.10 in costs, and $33,747.63 in BRG-related expenses. NYCTA was ordered to pay that amount to Express Scripts within thirty days of the October 12, 2022 Memorandum Opinion and Order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.