Cobell v. Norton
| Decision Date | 12 November 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. CIV.A.96-1285(RCL).,CIV.A.96-1285(RCL). |
| Parties | Elouise Pepion COBELL, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Gale A. NORTON, Secretary of the Interior, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Columbia |
Keith M. Harper, Lorna K. Babby, Native American Rights Fund, Washington, DC, Dennis Marc Gingold, Washington, DC, Elliott H Levitas, Kilpatrick Stockton, LLP, Washington, DC, for plaintiffs.
J. Christopher Kohn, U.S. Department of Justice, Commercial Litigation Branch, Washington, DC, Brian L. Ferrell, Mark E. Nagle, Robert Craig Lawrence, Scott Sutherland Harris, U.S. Attorney's Office, Washington, DC, Charles Walter Findlay, III, Barry Weiner, United States Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources, Washington, DC, Henry A. Azar, Jr., U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Programs Branch, Washington, DC, Seth Brandon Shapiro, U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division/Ben Franklin, Washington, DC, Jonathan Brian New, U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division, Federal Programs Branch, Washington, DC, Jennifer R. Rivera U.S. Department of Justice Civil Division, Washington, DC, Sandra Peavler Spooner, David J. Gottesman, Peter Blaze Miller, Cynthia L. Alexander, Mathew J. Fader, Amalia D. Kessler, U.S. Department of Justice, Commercial Litigation Branch, Washington, DC, John Charles Cruden, John Stemplewicz, U.S. Department of Justice, Ben Franklin Station, Civil Division, Washington, DC, John S. Most, United States Department of Justice, Trial Attorney, General Litigation Section, Environment & Natural Resources Division, Washington, DC, for Kevin Gover, Dept. of Interior, Gale Norton.
Robert D. Luskin, Patton Boggs, LLP, Washington, DC, Henry A. Azar, Jr., Jonathan Brian New, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Fed. Programs Branch, Washington, DC, Seth Brandon Shapiro, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Civ. Division/Ben Franklin Station, Washington, DC, Jennifer R. Rivera, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Civ. Div., Washington, DC, David J. Gottesman, Peter Blaze Miller, Cynthia L. Alexander, Mathew J. Fader, Amalia D. Kessler, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Commercial Lit. Branch, Washington, DC, for John D. Leshy, Edward B. Cohen, Michael F. Rossetti.
B. Michael Rauh, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, L.L.P., Washington, DC, Henry A. Azar, Jr., Jonathan Brian New, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Fed. Programs Branch, Washington, DC, Seth Brandon Shapiro, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Civ. Division/Ben Franklin Station, Washington, DC, Jennifer R. Rivera, Tracy Lyle Hilmer, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Civ. Div., Washington, DC, David J. Gottesman, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Commercial Lit. Branch, Washington, DC, Dodge Wells, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, DC, for Neal McCaleb.
Lawrence H. Wechsler, Janis, Schuelke & Wechsler, Washington, DC, for Eleni M. Constantine.
Donald Michael Barnes, Porter, Wright, Morris & Arthur, Washington, DC, for Roberta McInerney.
David Booth Beers, Shea & Gardner, Washington, DC, for James Regan.
William Aaron Dobrovir, Sperryville, VA, for Daniel Mazella.
Pamela J. Marple, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, L.L.P., Washington, DC, for Randall Lewis.
Timothy Patrick Garren, U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Washington, DC, for U.S.
Brian L. Ferrell, Terry M. Petrie, U.S. Dept. of Justice, ENRD, Washington, DC, Gino D. Vissicchio, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Civ. Div., Washington, DC, John Warshawsky, Washington, DC, John J. Siemietkowski, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Commercial Lit. Branch, Washington, DC, for Dept. of Treasury.
Erik Lloyd Kitchen, Steptoe & Johnson, L.L.P., Washington, DC, for Ingrid D. Falanga.
Martha Purcell Rogers, Ober, Kaler, Grimes & Shriver, Washington, DC, for Timothy S. Elliott.
Michael R. Bromwich, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, Washington, DC, Amy Berman Jackson, Trout & Richards, P.L.L.C., Washington, DC, for Edith R. Blackwell.
Roger Eric Zuckerman, Zuckerman Spaeder, LLP, Washington, DC, for Robert Lamb.
Kathleen Elizabeth Voelker, Washington, DC, for James Douglas.
Stephen M. Byers, Crowell & Moring, L.L.P., Washington, DC, for Dominic Nessi.
Michael R. Bromwich, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, Washington, DC, for M. Sharon Blackwell.
Leslie B. Kiernan, Zuckerman Spaeder, LLP, Washington, DC, for Hilda Manuel.
L. Barrett Boss, Asbill, Moffitt & Boss, Chartered, Washington, DC, for Steven Swanson.
Plato Cacheris, John Francis Hundley, Baker & McKenzie, Washington, DC, Sydney Jean Hoffmann, Law Offices of Plato Cacheris, Washington, DC, for John Berry, Glenn Schumaker.
Barbara Ann Van Gelder, Wiley Rein & Fielding, LLP, Washington, DC, for James A. Eichner.
William Holt Briggs, Jr., Laura C. Zimmitti, Ross, Dixon & Bell, LLP, Washington, DC, for Phillip A. Brooks.
Thomas Edward Wilson, Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe, L.L.P., Washington, DC, for John S. Most.
Mary Lou Soller, Miller & Chevalier, Chartered, Washington, DC, for Chester Mills, Terrance Virden.
Jeffrey David Robinson, Melissa Heitmann McNiven, Baach, Robinson & Lewis, Washington, DC, for Lois J. Schiffer.
Dwight Phillip Bostwick, Melissa Heitmann McNiven, Baach, Robinson & Lewis, Washington, DC, for Anne Shields.
Larry Allen Nathans, Robert W. Biddle, Bennett & Nathans, L.L.P., Baltimore, MD, for David Shuey.
John Kenneth Zwerling, Zwerling & Kemler, P.C. Alexandria, VA, for Terry Steele.
Lisa Bondareff Kemler, Zwerling & Kemler, P.C., Alexandria, VA, for Deborah Maddox.
Russell David Duncan, Lisa Ann Freiman Fishberg, Coburn & Schertler, Washington, DC, for John A. Bryson, David Shilton.
E. Lawrence Barcella, Jr., Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, L.L.P., Washington, DC, for William G. Myers, III.
David Sidney Krakoff, Alessio D. Evangelista, Beveridge & Diamond, P.C., Washington, DC, for Daryl W. White.
Michael D. Goodstein, Resolution Law Group, PC, Washington, DC, for Tom C. Clark, II.
Bradley Stuart Lui, Morrison & Foerster, LLP, McLean, VA, for Sabrina McCarthy.
Stanley M. Brand, Andrew Dewald Herman, Brand & Frulla, P.C., Washington, DC, for Peter D. Coppelman.
Marshall L. Matz, Olsson, Frank & Weeda, P.C., Washington, DC, for Michael B. Jandreau.
Jefferson McClure Gray, D. Jacques Smith, Arent, Fox, Kintner, Plotkin & Kahn, Washington, DC, for Kenneth Paquin, Kenneth Russell.
Emily M. Yinger, Hogan & Hartson, McLean, VA, for Accenture LLP.
William Leonard Gardner, Brian Michael Privor, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, L.L.P., Washington, DC, for Willa B. Perlmutter.
Hamilton Phillips Fox, III, Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan, L.L.P., Washington, DC, for Charles W. Findlay.
Christopher J. Lovrien, Robert Christopher Cook, Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue, Washington, DC, for Michael Carr.
Dennis Marc Gingold, Washington, DC, for James Simon.
Robert A. Salerno, Piper Rudnick LLP, Washington, DC, for Sarah Himmelhoch.
Albert Lee Nynum, Gadsden, AL, pro se.
Nathaniel Davis Owens, Sr., Anniston, Al, for Albert Lee Bynum.
Alan Lee Balaran, Washington, DC, pro se.
Richard Lee Cys, Davis Wright Tremaine, Washington, DC, Jonathan K. Tycko, Tycko Zavareei, LLP, Washington, DC, for Dow Jones & Co., Inc.
Christopher B. Mead, London & Mead, Washington, DC, for Kenneth F. Rossman.
Jill Elise Grant, Washington, DC, for Intertribal Monitoring Ass'n for Indian Trust Funds.
Neil James Ruther, Towson, MD, for Native American Indust. Distributors, Inc.
The U.S. Supreme Court has stated that "[a] request for attorney's fees should not result in a second major litigation." Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 437, 103 S.Ct. 1933, 76 L.Ed.2d 40 (1983). Nevertheless, the prospect of fee awards often brings out the most miserly (or avaricious) qualities in lawyers, which in turn spawns the urge to produce a massive paper trail. The instant occasion is no exception.
Defendants filed two unmeritorious motions for protective orders. On March 29, 2002, this Court ordered defendants to pay "all reasonable expenses, including attorneys' fees, arising from [plaintiffs'] opposition" to those two motions [1222, 1224]. On April 29, 2002, plaintiffs submitted a fee statement claiming a total of $409,038.82, reflecting the fees and expenses incurred by four attorneys and one accountant in opposing defendants' motions [1270].1 See Pls' Statement of Fees and Expenses Related to the Sanctionable Conduct of Defs. and Their Counsel [ ] at 1. Defendants filed a response [1297], which alleged that the statement included fees and expenses for matters beyond the scope of this Court's orders, and that the amount of time and rates claimed by plaintiffs were unreasonable and excessive. See Defs' Objections to Pls.' Statement of Fees and Expenses Filed April 29, 2002 [ ]. Defendants suggested that plaintiffs' statement was so "outrageously unreasonable" that their entire claim for fees should be disallowed; in the alternative, defendants suggested a reduction to $25,098.16. Plaintiffs filed a reply to defendants' objections [1310]. See Pls.' Reply re Pls.' Statement and Supporting Affidavits [ ]. Finally, on June 5, 2002, defendants sought leave to file a surreply [1329], which this Court granted on September 17, 2002 [1521] See Defs.' Mot. for Leave to File Surreply Regarding Pls.' Fee Application [ ]. Between these two dates came plaintiffs' opposition brief to the motion for leave [1336] and defendants' reply brief [1353].
Having considered all motions filed by the parties, and having conducted an independent review of all time entries submitted by plaintiffs with their fee application, the Court awards fees and expenses to plaintiffs in the amount of $125,484.87.
On January 21, 2000, defendants filed a motion for a protective order covering all documents responsive to paragraph 19 of the Court's First Order for Production of Information ("Trade Secrets Motion"). Defendants alleged that these documents were protected from disclosure by the Trade Secrets A...
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