Stanbro v. Westchester County Health Care Corporation

Background

Chad Stanbro brought a consolidated civil-rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against correction officers, other correctional personnel, Westchester County Health Care Corporation, Westchester Medical Center, Frank Weber, DDS, and John Full. The claims arose from events on August 31, 2018, after Stanbro experienced an adverse reaction to anesthesia during outpatient dental surgery. He alleged that correction officers used force against him, that medical personnel failed to intervene or provide appropriate care, and that he was later diagnosed with injuries including partial quadriplegia.

The jury found Kristofer Leonardo liable for excessive force; Nadya Palou and Raymond Deal liable for deliberate indifference at and during transportation from the clinic; and Frank Weber liable for medical malpractice. The jury awarded $2 million in compensatory damages and $100,000 in punitive damages. It did not find liability on all claims, including claims against John Full, Enrique Torres, and Richard Landry identified in the opinion.

Fee Motion and Legal Standard

Stanbro sought $917,133.00 in attorneys’ fees and $20,549.30 in costs under 42 U.S.C. § 1988, which permits a prevailing party in a civil-rights lawsuit to recover reasonable fees and costs. The court used the lodestar method: a presumptively reasonable fee calculated by multiplying a reasonable hourly rate by a reasonable number of hours.

The court concluded that Stanbro was a prevailing party because he obtained a favorable merits judgment at trial. It also concluded that the unsuccessful claims did not require excluding all related work because the claims arose from a common set of events and injuries. The state medical-malpractice claim itself was not eligible for fee shifting under § 1988, but the court found that work connected to that claim could be included when it also furthered the fee-eligible civil-rights claims.

Hourly Rates

The court approved a $700 hourly rate for attorneys Edward Sivin and Glenn Miller, finding that both had more than 35 years of civil-rights litigation experience and that the case involved multiple claims, multiple defendants, expert medical testimony, and an approximately two-week trial.

The court approved a $150 hourly rate for legal assistant Jake Ethé, based on his stated experience and training. It set a $100 hourly rate for Gabriella Birzh, Jason Miller, and Stephanie Leibowitz because the submission described them as recent college graduates with law-related coursework but provided no further evidence of special expertise.

Hours and Lodestar Reduction

Stanbro sought compensation for 1,192.8 attorney hours and 484.82 hours by paralegals and legal assistants. The court found that most billing entries were adequate but identified problems involving vague descriptions, block billing, repetitive work, time spent preparing for a summary-judgment motion that was never filed, clerical work, and excessive time spent preparing the fee motion.

Rather than review every time entry individually, the court imposed an across-the-board 25 percent reduction on the hours recorded by Sivin and Miller. It calculated the resulting attorneys’ fee award as $673,143.75. The court did not impose an additional reduction based solely on Stanbro’s failure to prevail on every claim, reasoning that the successful and unsuccessful claims were closely related and that the jury’s damages award represented an excellent result.

Costs

Stanbro requested $20,549.30 in costs. The court reduced travel costs by 25 percent, finding unreasonable the inclusion of $2,421.43 for a paralegal’s travel and expenses for Stanbro’s parents, who were not parties and did not testify. It also deducted $300 for serving Full, Landry, and Torres because the jury found those defendants not liable and Stanbro was not a prevailing party as to them. The court awarded $18,056.45 in costs.

Disposition

The court granted in part Stanbro’s motion for attorneys’ fees and costs, directed the Clerk to enter judgment, and ordered the case closed. The opinion’s fee calculation and earlier statement award $673,143.75 in fees plus $18,056.45 in costs, totaling $691,200.20. However, the final conclusion states that the court awards $690,200.20. The opinion does not explain this $1,000 difference.