Opinion
Civil Action No. 07-cv-00040-REB-BNB.
November 13, 2008
ORDER
On October 1, 2008, I granted the defendant's motions to compel [Doc. #104]. Upon granting the motions and after careful review of the plaintiff's responses to the motions to compel, I found that the defendant is entitled to its reasonable expenses incurred in filing the motions under Rule 37(a)(5)(A), Fed.R.Civ.P., and I ordered the defendant to submit a fee application.
Rule 37(a)(5)(A) provides that "the court must, after giving an opportunity to be heard, require the party . . . whose conduct necessitated the motion . . . to pay the movant's reasonable expenses incurred in making the motion, including attorney's fees." Here, the defendant expressly and repeatedly requested an award of attorneys' fees and expenses incurred as a result of the plaintiff's failure to timely provide discovery responses [Doc. #86, #90, and #94]. Therefore, the plaintiff has had sufficient opportunity to respond to the request and "be heard" on the issue.
Upon review of the defendant's fee application, I find that all of the fees and expenses are reasonable under Rule 37 with the exception of the .5 hours charged for conferencing with a paraglegal on July 23, 2008. Therefore, I award the defendant reasonable attorneys' fees and expenses in the amount of $3,548.20. Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED that, within thirty days of the date of this order, the plaintiff shall pay to the defendant a discovery sanction in the amount of $3,548.20.