Keller v. County of Bucks

Full title: KEVIN KELLER, et al. v. COUNTY OF BUCKS, et al

Court: United States District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania

Date published: Jul 5, 2005

Civil Action No. 03-4017 (E.D. Pa. Jul. 5, 2005)

Opinion

Civil Action No. 03-4017.

July 5, 2005

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

JOHN FULLAM, Senior District Judge

Having been awarded damages for violations of their constitutional rights pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, plaintiffs now seek an award of counsel fees and costs under 42 U.S.C. § 1988. The parties disagree as to whether the limitations imposed by the Prison Litigation Reform Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1997 (" PLRA") are applicable. I conclude that they are.

Under the statute, attorneys fees are limited "in any action brought by a prisoner who is confined to any jail, prison, or other correctional facility . . ." ( 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(d)(1)). Since both plaintiffs were in jail when this lawsuit was filed, and since the suit pertains to prison conditions, the defendants are entitled to invoke the statutory limitations on counsel fee awards.

Thus, so far as the defendants' liability for counsel fees is concerned, the maximum hourly rate for attorneys is $135, and for paralegals is $67.50 (150% of the hourly rates specified in 18 U.S.C. § 3006(A)).

Actually, in this case, precise calculation of the hourly rate, number of hours, etc. is purely academic, since the statute further provides:

"Whenever a monetary judgment is awarded in an action described in paragraph (1), a portion of the judgment (not to exceed 25 percent) shall be applied to satisfy the amount of attorney's fees awarded against the defendant. If the award of attorney's fees is not greater than 150 percent of the judgment, the excess shall be paid by the defendant."

42 U.S.C. § 1997e(d)(2).

The monetary judgment in this case totaled $1.2 million. Only if a reasonable attorney's fee exceeds $300,000 can the defendants be required to pay counsel fees. The plain import of the statute is that plaintiffs who recover substantial damage awards are expected to pay their counsel themselves, using the proceeds of the award for that purpose. In short, given the amounts of the judgments obtained, the compensation of plaintiffs' counsel is a private matter, to be arranged between themselves.

An Order follows.

ORDER

AND NOW, this 5th day of July 2005, upon consideration of plaintiffs' petition for attorneys fees pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988, and defendants' response, IT IS ORDERED:

In view of the fact that the amount of counsel fees sought by petitioners does not exceed 25% of the aggregate amount of the judgment, defendants are not liable for counsel fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988.

This Order is not intended to affect the taxation of costs by the Clerk.