Major v. Treen (700 F. Supp. 1422, 1988)

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana 1988-09-16

The Public Health and Welfare

Citations

Full opinion text

ROBERT F. COLLINS, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court for determination of appropriate attorneys’ fees in the above-captioned matter. For the following reasons, the Court will award attorneys’ fees in the amount of $335,846.15 and costs in the amount of $28,288.16 to plaintiffs, Barbara Major, Michael Darnell, Bernadine St. Cyr, Brenda Quant, and Annie A. Smart.

This litigation arose as a class action suit instituted by five black plaintiffs, individually and on behalf of all of those similarly situated. Plaintiffs sought declaratory and injunctive relief pursuant to the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution, the Civil Rights Act of 1871, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, § 2 of the Voting Rights Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 1973, and 28 U.S.C. § 2201 and § 2202. The plaintiffs objected to the realignment of the State’s congressional districts brought about as a result of Act 20 of the 1981 first extraordinary session of the Louisiana legislature. The basis of plaintiffs’ claim for relief was that Act 20 in design and effect cancelled, minimized and diluted minority voting strength by dispersing the black majority of Orleans Parish into two congressional districts.

On October 18, 1983, judgment was entered by a three-judge panel composed of United States Circuit Judge Henry Politz and United States District Judges Fred J. Cassibry and Robert F. Collins. The Court found in plaintiffs’ favor that Act 20 imper-missibly resulted in dilution of minority voting strength. Act 20 was declared illegal and unenforceable, and the defendants were enjoined from taking any action to enforce its provision. The Court further found that the Louisiana legislature was to be given reasonable opportunity to confect a new plan for the election of members to the United States House of Representatives. On February 6, 1984, the Court was presented with a proposal remedy. It was then ordered that the plan be presented to the Attorney General of the United States for approval.

At the February 6, 1984 court hearing, it was decided that the three-judge panel would not be needed to determine the amount of attorney fees and costs to be awarded to plaintiffs. Counsel were ordered to attempt to resolve this matter amicably and to submit an affidavit as to time and expenses. However, the parties were unable to settle the matter, and plaintiffs made a motion for an award of attorneys’ fees and expenses. This motion was subsequently referred to the United States Magistrate Alma Chasez for hearing and to make findings of fact and recommendations pursuant to Rule 53, Fed.R.Civ.P.

In her Report and Recommendation, Magistrate Chasez rejected the fee claim by the plaintiffs’ attorneys as excessive and held that such an award would be inequitable and burdensome to the taxpayers of the State of Louisiana as well as an unwarranted windfall to counsel for the plaintiffs. Plaintiffs seek approximately $750,000.00 in legal fees for investing approximately 2600 hours of legal work in this litigation. Magistrate Chasez held that figure to be in stark contrast to the sum of approximately $80,000.00 which was paid to counsel for the defendants in both fees and cost reimbursement. Consequently, the Magistrate recommended that counsel for plaintiffs be awarded $135,-969.40 in fees and $12,572.62 in costs for prosecution of the main action, and $39,-618.00 in fees and $6,221.17 in costs in connection with the motion to assess attorneys’ fees. Both plaintiffs and defendants have filed objections to the Report and Recommendation of Magistrate Chasez. The matter is presently before the Court for a determination of whether Magistrate Chasez was correct in her recommendations.

Generally, a determination by the magistrate of nondispositive motions that have been referred by a district judge will not be modified by the district court unless clearly erroneous or contrary to law. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A); Industrial Risk Insurers v. Creole Production Services, Inc., 568 F.Supp. 1323, (D.C.Alaska 1983), aff'd, 746 F.2d 526 (9th Cir.1983). However, a district judge is not limited to a clearly erroneous standard when reviewing a magistrate’s recommendations on the issue of attorney fees. He may reject a magistrate’s recommendation on the basis of a different determination of credibility. Louis v. Blackburn, 630 F.2d 1105 (5th Cir.1980). The Court is therefore not bound to follow the recommendation of Magistrate Chasez and may exercise its discretion in determining the attorneys’ fees in the instant action. Yates v. Mobile County Personnel Board, 719 F.2d 1530 (11th Cir.1983).

Plaintiffs have objected to: (1) the 50% across-the-board reduction in the hours claimed by their attorneys; (2) the deduction of all hours billed by their attorneys in connection with the administrative proceeding under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act; (3) the disallowance of recovery of all fees for expert witnesses; (4) the hourly rates which the Magistrate recommended for each attorney; (5) the Magistrate’s recommendation that attorneys who did not appear on the pleadings receive no compensation for work performed; (6) the findings of the Magistrate that there was nothing novel or difficult in the questions presented in the litigation, that the litigation required no exceptional legal skill on the part of plaintiffs’ attorneys, that plaintiffs incurred no risk of not prevailing in this litigation and that civil rights litigation is not undesirable as being contrary to the facts in this litigation and the law; (7) the disallowance of certain litigation expenses; and (8) the fact that the Magistrate did not award fees and expenses which are adequate to attract competent counsel to represent other plaintiffs in civil rights litigation. Defendants maintain that plaintiffs are not entitled to attorneys’ fees and costs and object to the Magistrate’s Recommendation on that basis.

A. Attorneys’ Fees are Appropriate

Defendants have flatly denied that plaintiffs are entitled to any fees because plaintiffs have won only a Pyrrhic victory which is not worthy of a fee award. Although the State concedes that plaintiffs did achieve a reapportionment of the metropolitan New Orleans congressional districts, they argue that this was a hollow victory because the black plaintiff class elected the same white representative that they had before. It is clear to the Court that this attitude of defendants is partially what has made the instant litigation balloon to its current proportions.

42 U.S.C. § 1988 provides:

In any action or proceeding to enforce a provision of sections 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, and 1981 of the Revised Statutes [42 U.S.C. §§ 1981-83, 1985, 1986] title IX of Public Law 92-318 ... or title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ... the court, in its discretion, may allow the prevailing party, other than the United States, a reasonable attorney’s fee as part of the costs.

Similarly, 42 U.S.C. § 1973i(e) states:

In any action or proceeding to enforce the voting guarantees of the fourteenth or fifteenth amendment, the court, in its discretion, may allow the prevailing party, other than the United States, a reasonable attorney’s fee as part of the costs.

Therefore, the threshhold question is: who is the prevailing party in this case? It is clear and undisputed that the plaintiff class prevailed. The fact that the first set of elections held under the new congressional plan did not produce a black congressperson is irrelevant. What is important is that plaintiffs’ goal in creating the opportunity for the election of a black candidate was realized. Hennigan v. Ouachita Parish School Board, 749 F.2d 1148 (5th Cir.1985). As the Supreme Court has stated in Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 103 S.Ct. 1933, 1939, 76 L.Ed.2d 40 (1983), “A typical formulation is that ‘plaintiffs may be considered prevailing parties’ for attorney’s fees purposes if they succeed on any significant issue in litigation which achieves some of the benefit the parties sought in bringing the suit.” Id. 103 S.Ct. at 1939, quoting Nadeau v. Helgemoe, 581 F.2d 275, 278-279 (1st Cir.1978). See also, Maher v. Gagne, 448 U.S. 122, 100 S.Ct. 2570, 65 L.Ed.2d 653 (1980); Brown v. Culpepper, 559 F.2d 274, reh. denied, 561 F.2d 1177 (5th Cir.1977).

Modern civil rights legislation reflects a heavy reliance on the salutary effect of the award of adequate attorney fees. Judge Sharp, of the Northern District of Indiana, urged this point quite clearly when he stated in Grooms v. Snyder, 474 F.Supp. 380 (N.D.Indiana 1979):

All of these Civil Rights laws depend heavily upon private enforcement and fee awards have proved an essential remedy. In many cases arising under our civil rights laws, the citizen who must sue to enforce the law has little or no money with which to hire a lawyer. If private citizens are to be able to assert their civil rights, and if those who violate the Nation’s fundamental laws are not to proceed with impunity, then citizens must have the opportunity to recover what it costs them to vindicate those rights in court. 1976 U.S.Code Cong. & Adm. News 5910. If successful plaintiffs were routinely forced to bear their own attorney fees, few aggrieved parties would be in a position to advance the public interest by invoking the powers of the federal courts.

474 F.Supp. at 384.

The standard for awarding fees to successful plaintiffs arguably contains an exception to the almost automatic award of attorneys fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988. As the Court in Newman v. Piggie Park Enterprises, Inc., 390 U.S. 400, 88 S.Ct. 964, 19 L.Ed.2d 1263 observed, a court may use its discretion to deny an award of fees where “special circumstances” would render an award unjust. However, defendants have not presented any “special circumstances” which would justify a denial of attorneys’ fees in this case. As a result, the State’s allegation that this case represents a hollow victory is unfounded. The Court therefore has no reservations in holding that plaintiffs are the prevailing party and are entitled to a reasonable amount of attorneys’ fees and reimbursement of costs.

In analyzing the amount of fees and costs to be compensated, the Court will differentiate the fees and expenses sought in connection with the handling of the principal litigation from those sought in connection with the handling of the motion for attorneys’ fees. The plaintiffs’ claim for fees on the main litigation are as follows:

FEES AND EXPENSES RE PRINCIPAL LITIGATION

Attorney Total Hours Hourly Rate Total Fee Total Expenses

Stanley A. Halpin 573.25 $160.00 $ 91,720.00 $ 1,863.61

C. Lani Guinier 691.10 $160.00 $110,576.00 $15,187.52

$ 3,220.00

R. James Kellogg 510.20 $135.00 $ 68,877.00 -0-

Steven Scheckman 214.70 $125.00 $ 26,837.50 $32,240.46

William P. Quigley 483.43 $125.00 $ 60,428.75 -0-

Armand Derfner 28.0 $175.00 $ 4,900.00 -0-

Total Lodestar 2,500.68 $363,339.25 $52,511.59

The plaintiffs also request a multiplier of two which would give a total attorneys’ fee award on the principal litigation of $776,-678.50.

In determining reasonable attorney fees and expenses, the Court must apply the factors articulated in Johnson v. Georgia Highway Express, 488 F.2d 714 (5th Cir.1974). The Johnson court applied what is known as the lodestar method and then adjusted this figure upward or downward on the basis of twelve factors. These elements are: (1) time and labor required; (2) novelty and difficulty of the questions; (3) the skill requisite to perform the legal service properly; (4) the preclusion of other employment by the attorney due to acceptance of the case; (5) the customary fee; (6) whether the fee is fixed or contingent; (7) time limitations imposed by the client or the circumstances; (8) the amount involved and the results obtained; (9) experience, reputation and ability of the attorneys; (10) the “undesirability” of the case; (11) the nature and length of the professional relationship with the clients; (12) awards in similar cases. The lodestar figure is obtained by determining the number of hours reasonably spent on the case by plaintiffs’ attorneys and a reasonable hourly rate for those services. These two factors are then multiplied. The result constitutes the lodestar amount. This approach has consistently been approved by the Fifth Circuit and the United States Supreme Court as well. Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 103 S.Ct. 1933, 76 L.Ed.2d 40 (1983); Copper Liquor, Inc. v. Adolph Coors Co., 624 F.2d 575 (5th Cir.1980).

There is some argument that the Johnson factors are now obsolete in light of Blum v. Stenson, 465 U.S. 886, 104 S.Ct. 1541, 79 L.Ed.2d 891 (1984), in which the United States Supreme Court indicated that most of the Johnson factors will ordinarily be reflected in the lodestar. For example, novelty and complexity of the issues and the “quality” factor should be reflected in the number of hours required. 465 U.S. at 899, 104 S.Ct. at 1549; accord, Pennsylvania v. Delaware Valley Citizens’ Council for Clean Air, 478 U.S. 546, 106 S.Ct. 3088, 3098-99, 92 L.Ed.2d 439 (1986). However, the effect of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Blum v. Stenson does not diminish the importance of the Johnson factors. Blum merely provides that many of the factors will be reflected in the time and rate, or lodestar computation, rather than at the second, or adjustment, stage of the calculation. Daly v. Hill, 790 F.2d 1071 (4th Cir.1986). Thus, the method enunciated in Blum gives more meaning to the lodestar computation and the use of the Johnson factors.

B. Time and Labor Required

Plaintiffs request compensation for 2,500.68 hours of attorneys’ time in connection with the principal litigation. This time is documented by affidavits supplied by counsel, their depositions and testimony before the Magistrate. While the State does not contest the accuracy of counsel’s affidavit as to the number of hours expended, it does contest the necessity for the investment of so much time. More specifically, defendant argues that there was duplication of effort amongst counsel, and performance of non-legal work by an attorney when such work could have been performed by clerical staff or paralegals. Defendants also contend that there was a disproportionate amount of time spent in preparation for court as compared with time spent in trial, an excessive amount of conference and telephone calls, working time was included with travel time, and non-working travel time was erroneously billed. Additionally, the State objects to being charged for counsel’s time which was devoted to the administrative proceeding under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act which formed no part of this litigation, which, according to the State’s calculations, amounts to 207.40 hours of attorneys’ time.

Plaintiffs’ attorneys testified by affidavit and direct testimony at the hearing before the Magistrate that in their professional opinion this time was both reasonable and necessary for the proper representation of their client’s interest in this litigation. As a general rule, the statement of counsel as to his independent professional judgment on how to best represent his client carries great weight with the Court. Nevertheless, the Court must arrive at a fee which is fair, just and equitable to counsel for plaintiffs and to the citizens of the State of Louisiana who must ultimately bear the burden of paying for the attorney fees in this case.

Where hours are fully documented and there is no question that the time has in fact been spent by an attorney, the trial court can only reduce time based on specific factual findings justifying particular reductions. See, e.g., Northcross v. Bd. of Education of Memphis, 611 F.2d 624 (6th Cir.1979); Tasby v. Estes, 651 F.2d 287, 289-90 (5th Cir.1981); see also, National Ass’n of Concerned Veterans v. Secretary of Defense, 675 F.2d 1319 (D.C.Cir.1982).

Although some courts have approved of a small percentage reduction for duplication of effort where there are multiple attorneys (see, e.g., Northcross, supra), in no instance has an across-the-board reduction of half of documented hours without explanation and without specific fact finding been approved. Thus, a fact finder should not engage in “monday-morning quarterbacking,” but should follow the basic principle that if hours spent could have been properly billed to a client, then they should be presumed to reflect a reasonable amount of time spent. See Johnson v. University College of the University of Alabama, 706 F.2d 1205, 1207-208 (11th Cir.1983); Pennsylvania v. Delaware Valley Citizens’ Council, 106 S.Ct. at 3098-99. It has been held that once a plaintiff has established the amount of fees, a defendant may not respond by generalized objections but must come forward with particularized evidence to justify reduction of the amount requested. National Ass’n of Concerned Veterans v. Secretary of Defense, supra, 675 F.2d at 1337-38; Tasby v. Estes, 651 F.2d 287, 289-90 (5th Cir.1981).

In the present case, the 50% across-the-board reduction is unsupported by any evidence and, indeed, does not purport to be supported by any factual determination, but rather because the Magistrate “simply feels” that the case could have been tried in that time. F & R, p. 8. The only evidence which justifies such a decision seems to be the hours billed by private counsel for the defendants.

Defendants argue that a comparison of the hours that their counsel expended and the number of hours for which plaintiffs’ counsel has submitted bills support a 50% across-the-board reduction. Time spent by counsel for defendants is not a controlling factor in limiting the number of hours for which plaintiffs’ counsel may seek reimbursement. It is but one element to be weighed and considered for a determination of what work was necessary and whether it was done in an expeditious manner. Harkless v. Sweeny Independent School District, 608 F.2d 594 (5th Cir.1979).

It appears from the record that six lawyers were active in the trial of this matter on behalf of the plaintiffs. For the most part, Martin Feldman and one associate handled this matter on the part of the defendants. Other factors become relevant, however. Moreover, the time billed by private counsel for the defendants does not reflect at all the time spent by the three attorneys employed by the State, and there is nothing in the record that reflects the total amount of time those attorneys spent.

Feldman (later to become Judge in this Court) and three other members of his firm billed the State for 864.75 hours over a period of five quarters. Plaintiffs claim compensation for 2,502.48 hours expended over a period of 11 quarters. Feldman explained in his deposition that there were a number of matters that he did not bill the State for before he entered and after he terminated his work in this litigation, and he apparently agreed that plaintiffs’ extra effort in this litigation provided the winning margin (Feldman Deposition at p. 2). It is, therefore, illogical to assume that attorneys who win should have spent no more time than attorneys who lose. In the typical civil rights case, where virtually all of the evidence and witnesses are in the hands of the defendants and where the plaintiffs have the burden of proof, it can be expected that plaintiffs’ lawyers must spend more time than defendants’.

Defendants argue and the Magistrate recommends that the time billed by Armand Derfner was not necessary to the litigation and it should be disregarded in its entirety. As evidence, defendants contend that Derfner was not enrolled as counsel of record, therefore, his services could not be very important. There is no precedent that the Court is aware of which states that an attorney may not be reimbursed unless he is enrolled as counsel. Indeed, a court will frequently award fees for law students who are certainly not enrolled on a case. See, e.g., Jordan v. United States Dept. of Justice, 691 F.2d 514 (D.C.Cir.1982); Powell v. United States, Dept. of Justice, 569 F.Supp. 1192 (N.D.Cal.1983). It is not disputed that Derfner performed the tasks that he has billed, or that these tasks were in furtherance of this litigation. The Court therefore sees no reason to disallow his fees in their entirety.

Defendants have asked the Court to reduce the billable time on conferences which lasted over two hours. Their reasoning is that it is not likely that any conference which is over an hour in length is strictly business. Defendants have not presented the Court any evidence that plaintiffs’ attorneys were doing tasks other than those related to this case. Those hours will therefore be compensated.

Defendants also argue that plaintiffs should not be reimbursed for time spent on the administrative proceedings. On December 17, 1981, shortly after the adoption of Act 20, the State of Louisiana submitted the plan to the Attorney General of the United States for preelearance as required by § 5 of the Voting Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1973c. On June 18, 1982, the Attorney General, through his head of the Civil Rights Section, William Bradford Reynolds, informed the State that he would not object to the plan. Between December and June, plaintiffs’ attorneys devoted 207 hours and related expenses to lobbying the Justice Department to object to Act 20.

Work that is “useful and of a type ordinarily necessary” for the enforcement of civil rights may be compensated even if performed in an administrative proceeding. Pennsylvania v. Delaware Valley Citizens’ Council for Clear Air, 106 S.Ct. at 3093, citing, Webb v. Board of Education of Dyer County, 471 U.S. 234, 105 S.Ct. 1923, 85 L.Ed.2d 233 (1985).

Defendants argue that Webb stands for the proposition that attorney fees are not automatically available under § 1988 for work performed in administrative actions. Webb involved the termination of a black teacher’s employment. The teacher claimed that his firing was unjustified. He challenged his dismissal by way of appeal to a state board. The teacher appeared before the board with his lawyer, but obtained no relief. Subsequently, suit was filed in federal court, complaining of both the dismissal and the board’s allegedly racially based decision. Plaintiff received damages and his lawyer petitioned for fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled that the lawyer was not entitled to fees under § 1988 for the work he did before the board. Although the Supreme Court did not specify its reasons for denying the fee request, it did note that:

Congress only authorized the district courts to allow the prevailing party a reasonable attorney’s fee in an “action proceeding to enforce [§ 1983].” Administrative proceedings established to enforce tenure rights created by state law simply are not any part of the proceedings to enforce § 1983____

Sfc ^5 # Sfc ifc #

When the attorney’s fee is allowed “as part of the costs” — to use the language of the statute — it is difficult to treat time spent years before the complaint was filed as having been “expended on the litigation” or to be fairly comprehended as “part of the costs” of the civil rights action.

105 S.Ct. at 1928 (footnotes omitted).

The petitioner made no suggestion below that any discrete portion of the work product from the administrative proceedings was work that was both useful and of a type orginarily necessary to advance the civil rights litigation to the stage it reached before settlement.

105 S.Ct. at 1929. Webb seems implicitly to endorse the idea that materials from a proceeding for which one could not normally receive compensation under 42 U.S.C. § 1988, if used in a proceeding for which a fee award is available, may be compensa-ble. See also, Arriola v. T.L. Harville, 781 F.2d 506 (5th Cir.1986), (prevailing party is not precluded compensation for services rendered in a preclearance submission that bear directly on the issues in an independent lawsuit and where that work is “required and necessary to resolve the issues of the independent lawsuit.”)

In another important case, North Carolina Dept. of Transp. v. Crest Street, 479 U.S. 6, 107 S.Ct. 336, 93 L.Ed.2d 188 (1986), the Supreme Court specifically held that:

“[a] court hearing one of the civil rights claims covered by § 1988 may still award attorneys fees for time spent on administrative proceedings to enforce the civil rights claim prior to the litigation____ Moreover, even if the prior proceeding is not a ‘proceeding to enforce’ one of the § 1988 civil rights laws, the ‘discrete portion of the work product from the administrative proceedings’ that ‘was both useful and of a type ordinarily necessary to advance the civil rights litigation’ ... can be part of the attorney’s fees awarded under § 1988.”

107 S.Ct. at 342-43 (citations omitted).

The case at bar is a proper candidate for the recovery of attorney fees in accordance with Arriola, Webb and Crest. Plaintiffs have demonstrated that the services performed before the Justice Department for preclearance submissions was both useful and of a type ordinarily necessary to advance the civil rights litigation. The hours spent on the preclearance are therefore compensable.

Defendants’ next objection is that plaintiffs’ attorneys should not be compensated for non-legal work or legal work which a paralegal, law clerk or secretary could have done. The Court agrees. If work which was done by an attorney could have been done by someone less qualified, that work should be compensated at a lower rate equivalent to the expertise needed. The dollar value of the work is not enhanced just because a lawyer does it. Johnson v. Georgia Highway Express, 488 F.2d at 717.

Plaintiffs argue that statistical work can be done only by an attorney. However, it has been held that paralegals can competently perform complex statistical work. Richardson v. Byrd, 709 F.2d 1016, 1023 (5th Cir.1983). Additionally, Mr. Derfner, one of plaintiff’s counsel, has written at least one article where he states that law clerk or paralegal work

“typically includes such activities as statistical analysis and preparation, factual investigation, and document abstracting, and some aspect of administering a settlement. This is the underside of the court’s current willingness to pay for paralegal time. Even when an attorney is a sole practitioner, or one who does not have access to paralegal assistance, rates for performing tasks which might have been performed by such personnel may nonetheless be cut, although the rates of practitioners who do not have paralegals or law clerks will generally be lower than those of practitioners who do.”

M. Derfner and A. Wolf, 2 Court Awarded Attorney Fees, ¶ 16.03, 16-73 n. 140 (1984). The Court will therefore follow the advice of Mr. Derfner and cut the hourly rate by 50% for the non legal tasks which counsel for plaintiffs performed. See Rybicki v. State Board of Elections of State of Ill., 584 F.Supp. 849, 861 (N.D.Ill.1984).

Defendants have furnished the Court with 147 entries totaling 306.86 hours in which plaintiffs’ attorneys did non-legal work. Review of those hours revealed that only a fraction of them involved truly non legal tasks. As a result, the Court will cut the hourly fee by 50% from the lodestar computation for the following hours which were spent in non-legal tasks (see Appendix A).

Attorney Hours

William P. Quigley 34.06

R. James Kellogg 2.83

Steven Scheckman 5.97

Stanley J. Halpin 18.60

C. Lani Guinier 3.35

The next objection is that plaintiffs’ submission on travel time is not com-pensable or is alternatively compensable at a lower rate. Work done while traveling is not as efficient as work done in the office and should therefore be compensated at a lower rate. White v. City of Richmond, 559 F.Supp. 127, 131 (N.D.Cal.1982), aff'd, 713 F.2d 458 (9th Cir.1983); McPherson v. School District No. 186, 465 F.Supp. 749, 758 (S.D.Ill.1978). Similarly, travel time with no work claimed is not compensable, Ramos v. Lamm, 539 F.Supp. 730, 745 (D.Colo.1982), or compensable at a low hourly rate. Cruz v. Beto, 453 F.Supp. 905 (S.D.Tex.1977), aff'd, 603 F.2d 1178 (5th Cir.1979); Kirksey v. Danks, 608 F.Supp. 1448 (S.D.Miss.1985). In its discretion, the Court will award only 50% of the hourly fees for non working and working travel time (see Appendixes B and C). The following hours will be compensated at a 50% rate.

Attorney Hours

Stanley J. Halpin 23.40

C. Lani Guinier 29.6

R. James Kellogg 14.52

Steven Scheckman 10.2

William P. Quigley 9.58

Defendants next argument is that there was excessive duplication in plaintiffs’ handling of the case. The Court agrees. The Court is empowered to deduct time spent by counsel that is counter-productive. Henson v. Columbia Bank & Trust Co., 651 F.2d 320, 329-30 (5th Cir.1981); Northcross v. Board of Education of Memphis City Schools, 611 F.2d 624, 636-37 (6th Cir.1979), cert. denied, Board of Education of the Memphis City Schools v. Northcross, 447 U.S. 911, 100 S.Ct. 2999, 64 L.Ed.2d 862, (1980), cert. denied, City of Memphis v. Northcross, 447 U.S. 911, 100 S.Ct. 3000, 64 L.Ed.2d 862 (1980).

The Court arrived at 128.73 hours of duplicative work by allowing fees for two attorneys to do any given task by dropping the lowest duplicative hours for the third, fourth or fifth attorney. This method allows collaboration but does not foster excessive billing. On the trial dates where all five attorneys billed for their time, the Court allowed fees for those attorneys who led the trial on that particular day.

It would be impossible for the Court to tell which attorney would be best suited to do the work duplicated. The excess 128.73 hours represents approximately 1% of the total hours requested by plaintiffs. Therefore, the following hours which represent a reduction of each attorney’s time by 1% should be subtracted from the hours requested by each attorney.

Attorney Hours

Stanley J. Halpin 5.73

C. Lani Guinier 6.91

R. James Kellogg 5.10

Steven Scheekman 2.14

William P. Quigley 4.83

Armand Derfner .28

1.Novelty of the Issues

This litigation did not present unduly novel or difficult issues. It is not a case such as Bolden v. City of Mobile, 446 U.S. 55, 100 S.Ct. 1490, 64 L.Ed.2d 47 (1980), which traveled on more than one occasion to the United States Supreme Court. This case was tried once at the district level and did not proceed past that point. At the time that this suit was instituted, the burden of proof in litigation such as this was established in Bolden. Within a matter of months thereafter, Congress amended § 2 of the Voting Rights Act in order to legislatively overrule the Bolden case. In so doing, the standard established in White v. Regester, 412 U.S. 755, 93 S.Ct. 2332, 37 L.Ed.2d 314 (1973); and Zimmer v. McKeithen, 485 F.2d 1297 (5th Cir.1973), was reinstated. The standard in White and Zimmer is substantially lower insofar as burden of proof is concerned than it was in Bolden, supra. Bolden required that the plaintiff show intent on the part of the legislature to discriminate. White and Zimmer merely required that a discriminatory result be established regardless of the intent of the legislature in enacting the questionable statute.

As correctly noted by the State, Stanley Halpin, one of the attorneys seeking fees herein, was lead counsel in Zimmer v. McKeithen, and, as such, must be considered intimately familiar with the burden of proof necessary on plaintiffs’ part. The Court does not note this fact to say that any voting rights litigation is simple. What it does indicate is that there is no reason to enhance the award given to counsel. The case was not so easy for plaintiffs to prove so as to make the submitted hours unnecessary. The one fact that complicated things was that defendants fought every aspect of this suit. This made it necessary for plaintiffs to work more hours than normal.

2. Time Limitation Imposed by the Client or the Circumstances of the Litigation

The record reflects that this litigation proceeded along a reasonable time table. The Court sees no undue constraints imposed upon counsel either by the client or the circumstances of the litigation in bringing this matter to trial.

3. Amount Involved and the Results Obtained

The relief requested in this litigation was that Act 20 of the 1981 legislature be declared unconstitutional and that the State be enjoined from attempting to place it into effect. The purpose for which this relief was sought was to have a fairly proportioned congressional district for the State of Louisiana, which would not dilute or minimize the vote of the black citizens. Plaintiffs achieved a 100% victory in that respect. The State was forced to reconsider and pass additional legislation demarcating the various congressional districts in the Orleans, Jefferson and St. Bernard Parish area. The results obtained by the plaintiffs were important and significant and support a substantial fee for the results obtained.

The Court, therefore, finds that plaintiffs should receive attorneys’ fees for a total of 2,370.605 hours divided as follows:

Requested Non-Travel Hours

Attorney Hours Legal Duplication Time Allowed

Halpin 573.25 18.60 5.73 11.70 537.22

Guinier 691.10 3.35 6.91 14.8 666.04

Kellogg 510.20 2.83 5.10 6.26 496.01

Scheckman 214.70 5.97 2.14 5.1 201.49

Quigley 483.43 34.06 4.83 2.415 442.125

Derfner 28.0 -0-.28 -0-27.72

Hourly Rate

The Supreme Court has held that the primary element a court should use to determine a reasonable hourly rate is the rate that can be commanded by the attorney in the marketplace. Blum v. Stenson, 465 U.S. 886, 104 S.Ct. 1541, 79 L.Ed.2d 891 (1984). This determination is to be made by reference to the 12 factors set out in Johnson v. Georgia Highway Express, 488 F.2d 714 (5th Cir.1974). Moreover, where the record is undisputed as to what the appropriate rates are, the fact finder is not free to disregard that evidence and substitute its subjective judgment. Neely v. City of Grenada, 624 F.2d 547 (5th Cir.1980).

Counsel for plaintiffs argue that the requested rates are amounts that they bill paying clients for similar work. They also argue that the rates are reasonable, and that they were in the low end of the market range for attorneys with similar experience in complex federal litigation in New Orleans, New York, Washington, D.C., and Mobile, Alabama. As the Supreme Court decisions have also made clear, experienced and expert attorneys who exhibit a high degree of skill have the right to have those factors calculated into the hourly rates. Pennsylvania v. Delaware Valley Citizens’ Council, supra. Thus, an attorney of high skill will command a higher rate than a less experienced attorney doing the same work.

1. Fixed or Contingent Fee

The plaintiffs’ attorneys handled this matter on a contingency fee basis. Counsel received no monies from their clients during this litigation to compensate them for the services rendered. Had they not prevailed, they would have been unable to have collected any fee as a result of their efforts. As was stated in Jones v. Diamond, 636 F.2d 1364 (5th Cir.1981):

“Lawyers who are to be compensated only in the event of victory expect and are entitled to be paid more when successful than those who are assured of compensation regardless of the result. This is neither less nor more appropriate in civil rights litigation than in personal injury cases. The standard of compensation must enable counsel to accept apparently just causes without awaiting sure winners.”

636 F.2d at 1382. Therefore, one of the most important factors to be considered is what precisely was the risk of plaintiffs’ failure in this particular litigation.

Once the standard of proof was changed to eliminate the aspect of intent which had been enunciated in Bolden v. City of Mobile, the risk of loss on the part of plaintiff was greatly diminished. This legislative overruling of Bolden by Congress occurred early on in this litigation, and from that point forward the plaintiffs had a large degree of control over their risk of loss in terms of how well and articulately they could present the facts of the matter to the Court.

In this instance also, the plaintiffs mitigated their risk by working in a team fashion. This was not a question of one lead attorney and one or two associates investing all of their time in one file. Part of the reason that more than one attorney was involved in this case was to spread the risk.

2. Length of the Relationship with the Client

Plaintiffs’ attorneys had no prior relationship with the client. The plaintiffs are not especially likely to generate any additional fee paying work. Therefore, an amount greater than the fee which one might charge to a regular paying client would be in order in connection with this factor.

3. Preclusion of Other Employment

As was succinctly stated by the district court in the fee hearing opinion in Bolden, “when an attorney decides to handle a case, he necessarily precludes some other employment because of time constraints. This preclusion is reflected in any fee.” In the instant case, however, the court finds that counsel suffered no relevant preclu-sions. All of them hold themselves out to be experts in the field of civil rights and civil rights litigation. Mr. Halpin and Ms. Guinier were, during the time of the principal litigation, employees of organizations dedicated to the preservation of civil rights and civil liberties. As such, preclusion does not apply to them. Loewen v. Turnip Seed, 505 F.Supp. 512 (N.D.Miss.1980). It is not even suggested that the organization with which each is associated was precluded from other employment as a result of this case.

Additionally, shortly before the institution of this litigation, Quigley and Scheck-man had only recently entered the private practice of law as partners. The Court has heard of no significant work open to these attorneys during the same time period that Major v. Treen was litigated from which they were precluded as a result of their efforts herein. Neither can the Court pinpoint, as far as Mr. Kellogg is concerned, any specific or large client or fees which he has lost as a result of his activities in this litigation.

4. Undesirability of the Case

There has been testimony to the fact that civil rights type litigation is undesirable to private attorneys. There is much to be said in support of this proposition. However, for these particular lawyers, who have built their reputations and practice on civil rights litigation, who hold themselves out as specialists in this area, this type of case is not only not undesirable but most advantageous.

Mr. Halpin and Ms. Guinier at time of trial were both associated with organizations entirely devoted to advancement of civil rights. Messrs. Kellogg, Quigley and Scheckman, although private practitioners in other areas, take pride in the civil rights work which they have done. The defendants have argued that since the majority of the citizens of New Orleans are black, it would appear that these attorneys acted on behalf of the majority rather than on behalf of the minority interests in becoming involved with this litigation. This may be true. However, the majority of the people who would be able to finance future litigation would not be the poorer Blacks whose interests were advanced by this case. They are more likely to be the people who benefitted from the passage of Act 20. The Court therefore finds that these lawyers may suffer economic loss by their inability to attract clients with other types of litigation from the community as a whole.

5. The Requisite Legal Skill

This Court certainly recognizes that there is a heavy burden on counsel for plaintiffs in voting rights litigation because they represent an entire class of citizens on an issue that is fundamental to the democratic process. Certainly, there is no basis upon which to criticize any of these attorneys in this litigation for the quality of the work which they put forth.

6. The Experience, Reputation and Ability of the Attorneys

The plaintiffs’ attorneys have an excellent reputation and considerable experience in the area of civil rights litigation. All of the attorneys appearing before the Court displayed excellent skill and competence and deserve to be justly compensated for turning their talents to fighting an issue of extreme public importance.

7. The Customary Fee

R. James Kellogg graduated from Columbia University School of Law in May, 1976. Since graduation, Mr. Kellogg has been, as he states, “overwhelmingly devoted to civil rights and civil liberties issues” in his law practice. He has been a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union and the Louisiana Center for the Public Interests. He has served as a consultant to the New Orleans Legal Assistance Corporation, Northwest Louisiana Legal Services, North Louisiana Legal Services, Acadiana Legal Services, Southeast Louisiana Legal Services and New Mexico Legal Services. In addition, he has been affiliated as counsel in various civil rights and civil liberties litigation with the N.A.A. C.P. Legal Defense Fund, the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, the National Prison Project, the Mental Health Law Project, the National Senior Citizens Law Center and many other such groups.

Mr. Kellogg advised the Court that 90% of his litigation experience has been in the federal court system on civil rights and civil liberties issues and that at the time he litigated Major v. Treen, he had been involved in approximately ten voting rights cases. Mr. Kellogg seeks an hourly rate of $135.00 in connection with the work he performed herein. Mr. Kellogg has stated that his responsibilities in Major v. Treen were the day-to-day operation of the case, handling of the motion practice aspect of this ease, and acting as supervisor of trial preparation and overall coordinator of the efforts of counsel.

It is obvious that some of Mr. Kellogg’s activities, although necessary to achieve an orderly result, were not entirely legal work. However, the Court has already taken that into consideration in Appendix A. Under the circumstances, the Court finds that an hourly rate of $95.00 would adequately compensate Mr. Kellogg for the work performed. Mr. Kellogg functioned in the capacity of an associate counsel as opposed to lead counsel herein. The above rate is commensurate to what local firms would bill for an associate’s time.

Steven Scheckman graduated from Tulane University School of Law in 1978. Thereafter, he has been heavily engaged in civil rights and civil liberties issues. Mr. Scheckman states that he was a staff attorney for the New Orleans Legal Assistance Corporation from 1978 through 1981, at which time he entered private practice of law as a partner in the firm of Quigley and Scheckman. Mr. Scheckman was also a member of the Board of Directors of the American Civil Liberties Union on whose behalf he has litigated.

Mr. Scheckman advised the Court that his specialty is litigation involving the institutionalized at local and state juvenile facilities and adult penal institutions. His special emphasis in civil rights and civil rights litigation surrounds the rights of juveniles and juvenile law, the mentally handicapped and prisoners.

In this litigation, Mr. Scheckman’s role was to establish the legislative history applicable herein, to analyze and review all documents received in discovery and to determine how they might be used at trial. Additionally, he interviewed various expert witnesses. The Court is of the opinion that an hourly rate of $80.00 would adequately compensate him for the work he performed.

William P. Quigley graduated in 1977 from the Loyola Law School. He has served as the general counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union in Louisiana and, in addition, has been counsel to various other public interest and civil rights groups, including the Louisiana Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Louisiana Coalition on Jails and Prisons, the New Orleans Public Housing Tenants, Inc. He has been co-counsel with the N.A.A.C.P. Legal Defense Fund and with the National Housing Law Project on federal litigation.

At present, Mr. Quigley is associated with Mr. Scheckman in the private practice of law. In connection with this litigation, Mr. Quigley was involved with the legislative history of the Voting Rights Act and with the § 5 submission to the Justice Department. Mr. Quigley advised in connection with other matters which he handles that he attempts to obtain an hourly fee rate of between $75.00 and $125.00. The Court is of the opinion that an hourly rate of $80.00 would adequately compensate Mr. Quigley for the work performed.

C. Lani Guinier is presently employed as assistant counsel for the N.A.A.C.P. Legal Defense and Educational Fund, a nonprofit corporation originally founded in 1940 to furnish legal assistance in cases involving claims of racial discrimination and deprivation of constitutional rights. Ms. Guinier graduated from Yale Law School in 1974 and since that time has specialized in civil rights and constitutional litigation. She has served as special assistant to the head of the Civil Rights Division in the United States Justice Department where she helped reorganize the voting rights § 5 unit. Ms. Guinier states that since April, 1981, she has worked primarily on voting rights cases as a staff attorney at the Legal Defense Fund.

Insofar as her activities in connection with this matter, Ms. Guinier testified that she was responsible for drafting all pleadings, amending the original complaint filed herein, drafting all pre-trial findings and conclusions of law, drafting the pretrial memorandum along with Stan Halpin, drafting the post trial findings and conclusions of law, summarizing all trial testimony accurately and succinctly, and formulating the strategy to overcome the advantage to the defendant as a result of preclearance of the Act by the Justice Department. Along with Mr. Halpin, Ms. Guinier worked with the experts to obtain testimony responsive to the new standard under § 2. Additionally, she cross-examined Governor Treen and, in general, worked to establish the lack of fairness of the Act sought to be overturned. Ms. Guinier seeks an hourly rate of $160.00 for the work which she has performed in connection with this matter.

There is no doubt that Ms. Guinier is a very well-trained, highly qualified professional in the area of civil rights. However, the Court is of the opinion that an hourly rate of $130.00 will adequately compensate Ms. Guinier for the work performed in this matter.

Stanley A. Halpin, Jr. graduated from Tulane Law School in 1965. Prior to that time, he had received a PhD in political science from George Washington University having written his doctoral dissertation on the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Shortly after his graduation from law school, Mr. Halpin began litigating voting and redistricting cases in Louisiana, and since that time has litigated over fifty redistricting matters on the state, county and local level. Mr. Halpin has stated that he was either lead counsel or sole counsel during those efforts.

From 1971 through 1974, Mr. Halpin litigated as lead counsel the matter of Bussie v. McKeithen, 333 F.Supp. 452 (E.D.La.1971), aff'd, 457 F.2d 796 (5th Cir.1971), remanded, 407 U.S. 191, 92 S.Ct. 1980, 32 L.Ed.2d 648 (1972), 499 F.2d 893 (5th Cir.1974). From 1974 through 1976, Mr. Hal-pin served as lead counsel on behalf of black intervenors in the matter of Beer v. United States, 374 F.Supp. 357 (E.D.La.1974), 425 U.S. 130, 96 S.Ct. 1357, 47 L.Ed. 2d 629 (1976). In addition, Mr. Halpin was intimately involved in the matter of Zimmer v. McKeithen, 485 F.2d 1297 (5th Cir.1973), wherein the so called Zimmer factors important in redistricting litigation were established.

It is obvious that Mr. Halpin had his hands on every aspect of this case commencing with his examination of census data and statistical evidence for purposes of analyzing the act for potential discrimination, and continuing with meeting with experts, gathering data and facts, discussing and confecting strategy, updating research on the Zimmer factors, researching black participation in the political process and analyzing the effects of past discrimination and representation on the present political spectrum as well as refining the tasks of the various experts. Mr. Halpin not only brought his talents as an attorney to this litigation but also his considered talents as a political scientist. Whereas it appears that Ms. Guinier did much of the reduction of ideas to paper, it does appear that Mr. Halpin formulated the structure and the direction that this litigation was to take. The Court therefore finds that an hourly rate of $140.00 will adequately compensate Mr. Halpin for the work he did on this case.

Armand Derfner graduated from Yale Law School in 1963. He served as Staff Counsel for the Lawyers Constitutional Defense Committee in Mississippi. Mr. Derf-ner is now in private practice in Charleston, South Carolina, where he is a partner in the firm of McClain & Derfner. Mr. Derfner has been actively involved in vote dilution cases under the Voting Rights Act, arguing several before the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Derfner was a key figure in the legislative developments which resulted in the 1982 amendments to the Voting Rights Act. The Court is of the opinion that an hourly rate of $150.00 would adequately compensate Mr. Derfner for the work he did on this case.

The Court therefore finds that counsel for plaintiffs should receive the following hourly rates:

Attorney Rate

R. James Kellogg $ 95.00

Steven Scheckman $ 80.00

William P. Quigley $ 80.00

C. Lani Guinier $130.00

Stanley J. Halpin $140.00

Armand Derfner $150.00

Multiplier

Plaintiffs have requested that the Court use a multiplier of two to increase their fees. Multipliers are granted only under certain circumstances. Pennsylvania v. Delaware Valley Citizens Council for Clean Air, 483 U.S. 711, 107 S.Ct. 3078, 97 L.Ed.2d 585 (1987). The standard for granting a multiplier is succinctly stated in Blum v. Stenson, 465 U.S. 886, 104 S.Ct. 1541, 79 L.Ed.2d 891 (1984), wherein the Court noted as follows:

“Neither complexity nor novelty of the issues, therefore, is an appropriate factor in determining whether to increase the basic fee award ... The quality of representation may justify an upward adjustment only in the rare case where the fee applicant offers specific evidence to show [1] that the quality of service rendered was superior to that one reasonably should expect in light of the hourly rates charged and [2] that the success was exceptional ... Because acknowledgment of the ‘results obtained’ generally will be subsumed within other factors used to calculate a reasonable fee, it normally should not provide an independent basis for increasing the fee award ... Nor do we believe that the number of persons benefitted is a consideration of significance in calculating fees under § 1988.”

Blum, 465 U.S. at 898-99, 104 S.Ct. at 1549. The Court does not find that any of the circumstances listed by the Blum case exist here, and will therefore decline to grant a multiplier.

8. Awards in Similar Cases

The Court has reviewed the appropriate jurisprudence with regard to fee awards in voting rights litigation. The following constitutes a synopsis of cases on this issue.

(a) Wallace v. House, 377 F.Supp. 1192 (W.D.La.1974)

Plaintiffs challenged the at-large scheme for aldermanic counsel elections in the town of Ferriday, Louisiana. Plaintiffs proved their claim that the scheme effectively deprived them of their right to vote by cancelling out black voting strength. The trial court awarded successful plaintiffs attorneys’ fees on theories of common benefit and private attorneys general.

Plaintiffs’ counsel, Stanley Halpin, indicated that he spent 138.5 hours on preparation and trial which was undisputed. The Court awarded Halpin an hourly rate of $50.00 despite finding the customary fee in Louisiana to begin at $35.00 per hour. Noting that Mr. Halpin’s expertise in redistricting and voting rights cases allowed him to use time more efficiently than a less experienced attorney, the Court found the hours expended reasonable. In addition to the attorneys’ fee award, expert witness fees were awarded in the amount of $250.00, and $65.28 was awarded for airfare. The Court also categorized the cost of developing precinct and registration data as a legitimate plaintiffs’ expense. The total award was for 138.5 hours at $50.00 per hour. The $6,925.00 award was held appropriate; any less would have been unfair, according to the court.

(b) Coalition to Preserve Houston v. Interim Board of Trustees, 494 F.Supp. 738 (S.D.Tex.1980)

Plaintiffs in this case prevailed in a Section 5 challenge to the Board. Plaintiffs sought declaratory and injunctive relief against the Board. Plaintiffs’ counsel submitted time records reflecting the expenditure of a total of 632.5 hours over approximately 3 years. 105.25 of those hours were expended by paralegals. The court allowed a 10% downward adjustment to account for duplicative legal work.

The Court also categorized the hours according to legal work, legally related activities, such as phone conferences, etc., and routine administrative activities. The hourly rates were higher for those who had been in practice longer, $75-$100; the rate for more recent graduates was set at $50. The result was a rate of $100 per hour for the most experienced attorney, $85 per hour for his informal communications, and $20 per hour for non-legal work performed by him. For the less experienced attorneys, the rates for informal communications were $60 and $30, and the rate for non-legal work was $20 per hour. The total number of hours was 339.50. The total fee award was $44,482.21.

(c) Bolden v. City of Mobile, No. 75-297-P (S.D.Ala.1983)

Plaintiffs successfully challenged the at-large election scheme in Mobile, Alabama. Their success came after appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court twice over a period of eight years.

Plaintiffs’ attorney sought a total lodestar of $507,748.80 as well as a multiplier of three, which would have resulted in an award of $1,523,245.50. In addition to fees, they sought $96,018.69 in expenses.

The Court found the outstanding skill and determination warranted an enhancement of the hourly fee. The total lodestar was $444,843.00 and a multiplier of two was awarded. The total recovery of attorney fees was $889,686.00. The multiplier was also applied to hours expended preparing their fee request.

(d) Flowers v. Wiley, 675 F.2d 704 (5th Cir.1982)

District court ordered defendants to pay plaintiffs a total of $41,659.00 in attorney fees and $971.69 in expenses in a successful voting rights case. The Fifth Circuit’s modification of the district court award was based in part on the trial court’s allowance of a $150 hourly rate “across the board” without regard to experience and qualifications, the nature of the professional activity or the particular contribution to the success of the lawsuit.

In addition, the court’s modification of the award was necessary to prevent compensation for duplicative activity or passive observance while other attorneys performed. The court reduced the enhancement from 50% to 33V3% for the contingency allowance, holding that a 50% enhancement was an abuse of discretion.

(e) Lacomb v. Growe, 541 F.Supp. 160 (D.C.Minn.1982)

Plaintiffs successfully challenged Minnesota’s legislative and congressional districts on grounds of malapportionment. Plaintiffs sought to recover $39,982.00 in fees based on an hourly rate of $90 for 444Vi hours and costs in the amount of $9,009.71. There was no dispute as to the reasonableness of the request, the issue was whether the award should be taxed against defendants or against the inter-venors. No multiplier was awarded.

(f) Burton v. Hobbie, 561 F.Supp. 1029 (M.D.Ala.1983)

Plaintiffs successfully challenged the reapportionment plan implemented by the Alabama legislature and sought attorney fees in the amount of $233,730.00 and $107,297.25 in expenses. The defendants objected to recovery for hours expended on plaintiffs’ Supreme Court appeal, alleging that plaintiffs did not prevail.

The district court refused to reduce the compensable hours because plaintiffs failed to prevail on all issues or because some relief was obtained through settlement. Plaintiffs also sought a multiplier of 1.5, but none was granted. The court ultimately awarded plaintiffs $151,575.00 in fees and $106,629.35. There was no dispute as to the reasonableness of the hours claimed or the hourly rates sought.

(g) Farnum v. Burns, 571 F.Supp. 45 (D.C.R.I.1983)

Plaintiff made successful challenge to a Senate redistricting plan. The only issue was whether the overall fee should be increased by some percentage to compensate for the contingency factor in the case. Plaintiffs sought a 100% multiplier. The Court awarded plaintiffs $105,700.00 in fees for lost hours, a 10% multiplier of $10,570.00 and costs in the amount of $24,-306.76.

(h) Graves v. Barnes, 700 F.2d 220 (5th Cir.1983)

District Court for the Western District of Texas awarded fees to plaintiffs as prevailing parties in an action challenging multi-member districts in Texas. Defendants challenged the court’s award as excessive.

On appeal, the court upheld the application of a multiplier of two in order to account for the contingent nature of the case. The court also noted that a multiplier may be appropriate due to delay in receipt of payment and to reflect the quality of representation. The court emphasized that a multiplier is not due in every case, as reasonable calculation of the lodestar may provide adequate compensation. The total award was in the amount of $780,263.20.

(i) In Re Ill. Congressional Districts Reappor. Cases, 704 F.2d 380 (5th Cir.1983)

The district court increased a fee award by a multiplier of three primarily because of the complexity of the case and the high quality of legal work performed by plaintiffs’ attorneys. The only issue at trial was which redistricting plan should be implemented. The district court awarded fees of $128,215.00 for 915.5 hours of legal work by three lawyers; there was no dispute as to the hours spent or the rate of compensation.

The district court increased the lodestar rate by a factor of three, and defendants appealed. The multiplier was based on several factors: (1) contingent nature of the case; (2) complexity of the case; (3) excellent quality of legal work; and (4) service to the public interest.

The Seventh Circuit found that the trial court did not err in considering the contingent nature of the case as one of several factors. The issues involved detailed demographic analyses and required the application of constitutional requirements to these analyses resulting in the complex intertwining of facts and law. The factual issues were not simple nor were the legal issues straight forward. Public interest was served by successfully persuading the court that one map was the best of the three at issue.

The Appellate Court found the multiplier of three excessive. Although the work quality was fine, it did not justify an hourly rate increase from $165 to $495. The court reasoned that the hourly rate took into account the attorneys’ expertise. Where the hourly rate is high, a multiplier of three results in an excessive bonus. Accordingly, the Appellate Court reduced the multiplier of three to 20%.

(j) Rybicki v. State Board of Elections, 584 F.Supp. 849 (N.D.Ill.1984)

Black and Hispanic plaintiffs successfully challenged an Illinois legislative redistricting plan and sought attorney fees. However, the classes of Republican and suburban interest plaintiffs were unsuccessful, and their petition for attorneys fees was denied. Defendants objected to Black and Hispanic plaintiffs’ reque