Opinion
No. 01 C 8535
February 19, 2003
OPINION AND ORDER
This matter comes before the Court upon Plaintiff Eileen Terry's Application for Fees, submitted with the Motion to Remand the matter to state court. On December 6, 2001, this Court granted the Motion to Remand the case to State Court. With the Motion to Remand, Plaintiff filed an Application for Fees to recover expenses, fees, and costs associated with the remand pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c). The Court has received full briefing on the Application for Fees.
Plaintiff through her attorney, has submitted a request for payment for 11.0 hours of attorney time at $200 per hour and $60 for out of pocket expenses associated with the commute to and from the courthouse. Defendant's response argues that the case was not removed to federal court in bad faith so Plaintiff should not be entitled to recover her costs, or in the alternative, that Plaintiff's request for costs is unreasonably high.
On the Motion to Remand, the Court found that the removal of the case to federal court was utterly lacking in merit. (Min. Ord. of Hon. David H. Coar, 12/6/2001) This finding is sufficient to justify the award of Plaintiff's requested fees and costs under the statute. Furthermore, Plaintiff's request is not unreasonable. The affidavit and invoice Plaintiff's counsel submitted included only six hours of in court time and five hours of out of court time. of the out of court time, a mere 3.5 hours were spent researching and preparing the Motion for Remand. This is a reasonable amount of time to spend on the preparation of a response to a removal petition. The other 1.5 hours of out of court time was spent preparing for court appearances and briefing relating to the amount of appropriate costs. of the time Plaintiff's attorney spent in court, two of the six hours were only necessary because Defendant's attorney needlessly noticed up a motion on a removal petition. On the whole, Plaintiff's request for reimbursement of costs in this matter is imminently reasonable.
ORDER
A. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c), Plaintiff Eileen Terry is hereby awarded the amount of $2260.00 for costs, fees and expenses incurred as a result of Defendant's improper removal of the case to federal court.
B. Defendant Ronald Nagler and his attorney John Xydakis are hereby ordered to pay the said amount, $2260.00, to Plaintiff Eileen Terry.