Opinion
1:14cv0159
10-04-2017
TYRONE GREEN, Plaintiff, v. RAYMOND BURKHART, JOHN HAGGERTY, JOHN GILARA, DANIEL PACK, JOHN CHILES, and SERGEANT CHERNOSKY, Defendants.
cc: All ECF Registered Counsel of Record and TYRONE GREEN EP-4593 SCI SOMERSET 1600 Walters Mill Road Somerset, PA 15510 PRO SE
ELECTRONICALLY FILED
MEMORANDUM ORDER
Petitioner has filed a "Motion for Attorney's Fees." ECF 239. In this Motion, Petitioner requests "attorney/paralegal fees" at $100.00 per hour. Petitioner also requests reimbursement for his costs, specifically, "filing fees, copying fees, postage, and supplies." Petitioner's Motion will be denied as follows.
First, Petitioner is not entitled to recover for "attorney's fees" and thus, the Court will deny this portion of the Motion. A pro se litigant who is not a lawyer is not entitled to attorney's fees. Kay v. Ehrler, 499 U.S. 432, 435 (1991). A rule that authorizes awards of counsel fees to pro se litigants -- even if limited to those who are members of the bar -- would create a disincentive to employ counsel whenever such a plaintiff considered himself competent to litigate on his own behalf. Id. at 437. The statutory policy of furthering the successful prosecution of meritorious claims is better served by a rule that creates an incentive to retain counsel in every such case. Id.
Second, the Court will deny as premature the portion of the Motion that requests reimbursement of his costs. Petitioner has filed an appeal with the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and until that appeal is fully litigated, the request for reimbursement of costs is premature. Petitioner may re-raise this narrow issue at the appropriate time.
SO ORDERED, this 4th day of October, 2017.
s/ Arthur J. Schwab
Arthur J. Schwab
United States District Judge cc: All ECF Registered Counsel of Record
and
TYRONE GREEN
EP-4593
SCI SOMERSET
1600 Walters Mill Road
Somerset, PA 15510
PRO SE