Well, that was quite a reduction.
Last week, Brian S. Miller, chief U.S. district judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas, slashed a $368,321 request for attorneys’ fees to $100,000.
Amanda A. Farahany and Tequiero Morenito Smith of the Barrett & Farahany law firm in Atlanta and attorney Olly Neal Jr. of Little Rock were seeking the money for work they did representing a teacher in a sexual harassment lawsuit against the Pine Bluff School District.
That case resulted in a $50,000 settlement for the teacher, Celeste Alexander. She also received a $7,000 payment to her retirement account and was rehired by the school district.
But Judge Miller said the amount sought for attorneys’ fees was unreasonable.
The attorneys said they and their associates spent 1,134.5 hours working on the case.
That ciphered out to about seven months of 40-hour workweeks, Miller noted in his order.
“Although lawyers could reasonably spend that amount of time on a highly contentious case involving many dueling motions, or a case involving difficult issues, or even a fairly simple case requiring a lengthy trial, this case falls in neither category,” the judge wrote. “This was a routine Title VII case that settled.”
Miller also said the attorneys’ hourly rates were unreasonable for the Little Rock market. The hourly rates were $400 for Smith, $495 for Farahany and $500 for Neal.
“An hourly rate of $350 is the highest rate typically received by civil rights lawyers,” Miller said. “On occasion, John Walker, who is considered the dean of civil rights lawyers, has received $375.”
Neal, however, would receive $350 an hour because of his “knowledge, experience, skill, and reputation,” Miller said.
The judge said he decided that $100,000, or double the back pay awarded to Alexander, was “more than reasonable” for the attorneys’ fees.
He also awarded $19,367 in costs, less than the nearly $24,000 the attorneys requested.
Sign up for Daily E-news
