Zaklama v. Mount Sinai Medical Center

• Decision Date: 24 July 1990
• Docket Number: No. 88-6195,88-6195
• Citation: 906 F.2d 645
• Parties: 53 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 871, 54 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 40,105, 17 Fed.R.Serv.3d 287 Esmat ZAKLAMA, M.D., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. MOUNT SINAI MEDICAL CENTER, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Page 645

906 F.2d 645

53 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 871,

54 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 40,105, 17 Fed.R.Serv.3d 287

Esmat ZAKLAMA, M.D., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. MOUNT SINAI MEDICAL CENTER, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 88-6195.

United States Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit.

July 24, 1990.

Kenneth A. Friedman, Baldwin & Friedman, N. Miami Beach, Fla., for plaintiff-appellant.

Christopher Lynch, Miami, Fla., for defendant-appellee.

Neale J. Poller, Hall, Poller & O'Brien P.A., Miami, Fla., for Gardana.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Before FAY and JOHNSON, Circuit Judges, and GIBSON ^*, Senior Circuit Judge.

FAY, Circuit Judge:

This case presents the issue of whether attorneys' fees awarded to a prevailing party can be recovered when that party moves for fees outside of the time limitation imposed by local rules. Based upon its local rule, the district court denied the attorneys' fee motion. After considering the authority for district courts to establish local rules setting time limitations for filing motions for attorneys' fees for the purposes of certainty and consistency, and finding no merit in arguments against the validity of the subject rule, we affirm.

PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff-appellant Esmat Zaklama, an Egyptian anesthesiologist, ultimately prevailed in his employment discrimination suit against defendant-appellee Mount Sinai Medical Center (Mount Sinai) for his dismissal from the residency program there. Zaklama v. Mt. Sinai Medical Center, 842 F.2d 291 (11th Cir.1988). The jury returned a verdict for Zaklama for $85,000.00 in compensatory damages and $50,000.00 in punitive damages. Although the district court granted Mount Sinai's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, this court reversed the district court and remanded for entry of judgment in accordance with the jury verdict. Id. at 296.

On May 12, 1988, the district court entered the following final judgment pursuant to the direction of this court:

Pursuant to the mandate of the United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit, (11TH CT APP. NOS. 87-5428 and 87-5554) dated April 12, 1988, it is

HEREBY ORDERED and ADJUDGED, as follows:

1. The Plaintiff, ESMAT ZAKLAMA, hereby recovers from the Defendant, MOUNT SINAI MEDICAL CENTER OF GREATER MIAMI, the sum of $85,000.00 in compensatory damages, $50,000.00 in punitive damages, together with interest thereon in the amount of 12% per annum since February 25, 1987 [date of jury verdict], reserving herein the taxation of costs and attorney's fees, for which let execution issue.

R2-140. The mandate of this court issued on June 23, 1988. Zaklama obtained a writ of execution in the amount of $135,000.00 with interest on July 14, 1988. The satisfaction of final judgment for $135,000.00 with accrued interest without attorneys' fees and costs against Mount Sinai was filed by Zaklama's attorneys on September 14, 1988. Subsequently, the proceeds were placed in the court's registry because Zaklama and his attorneys had become embroiled in a dispute over their contingency fee contract, the subject of a companion appeal. Zaklama v. Mount Sinai Medical Center, 906 F.2d 650 (11th Cir.1990). Thereafter, the district court directed payment in the amounts of $83,812.15 with accrued interest to Zaklama and $75,812.14 to his attorneys.

On September 19, 1988, Zaklama's attorneys, claiming Zaklama to be the prevailing party, filed the subject motion for attorneys' fees under 42 U.S.C. sections 1988 and 2000e-5(k). ¹ The district court held a hearing on the issues of attorneys' fees and the contingency contract on October 28, 1988. Zaklama's counsel contended that the district court's judgment "indicated that there would be attorneys' fees, but it was completely silent as to the time limit or the time limitations that might be imposed." R7-23. Arguing prevailing party status, notice to Mount Sinai through the complaint which included a request for attorneys' fees, and no indication in the local rule that its time limitation for filing an application for attorneys' fees was specific to requests pursuant to section 1988, Zaklama's counsel contended that attorneys' fees should not be denied based upon a "procedural technicality." Id. at 22. Neither the district court nor this court has been given an explanation for the dilatoriness in the request for attorneys' fees by Zaklama's counsel.

On November 2, 1988, the district court denied attorneys' fees for failure to comply with the local rule governing the time limitation for filing motions for attorneys' fees. Applicable Local Rule 10(F) of the Southern District of Florida states:

MOTIONS TO TAX COSTS AND ATTORNEYS' FEES. Motions to tax costs and claims for attorneys' fees authorized to be claimed in accordance with law in actions or proceedings shall be filed by the parties, where appropriate, no later than thirty (30) days following the entry of final judgment or other final dispositive order, if any.

S.D.Fla., Local R. 10(F). On appeal, Zaklama's only arguments that merit discussion are the alleged ambiguity of Local Rule 10(F) for lack of applicability to a section 1988 claim, the district court's removal of the subject motion for attorneys' fees from coverage by Local Rule 10(F) by the court's reserving ruling on such a motion in its final judgment, and the ineffectiveness of the district court's final judgment because the mandate of this court had not issued when the judgment was entered.

ANALYSIS

District courts are authorized to institute local rules governing practice and procedure by Rule 83 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Specifically addressing the discretion of the district court to grant or deny attorneys' fees pursuant to section 1988, the Supreme Court has explained that "the district courts remain free to adopt local rules establishing timeliness standards for the filing of claims for attorney's fees." White v. New Hampshire Dept. of Employment Sec., 455 U.S. 445, 454, 102 S.Ct. 1162, 1168, 71 L.Ed.2d 325 (1982); see Brown v. City of Palmetto, 681 F.2d 1325, 1326-27 (11th Cir.1982); Knighton v. Watkins, 616 F.2d 795, 798 n. 2 (5th Cir.1980). In order to be enforced with respect to attorneys' fee motions, the time limitations established by local rules must state explicitly that they are applicable to claims for attorneys' fees. ² Brown, 681 F.2d at 1327. For example, this court has upheld the Middle District of Alabama local rule, which requires motions for attorneys' fees by prevailing parties to be filed within thirty days from the date of judgment, despite the prevailing plaintiffs' contention that the district court's judgment was not final until it was affirmed eight months later. Watkins v. McMillan, 779 F.2d 1465, 1466 (11th Cir.1985) (per curiam); see Pitts v. Freeman, 755 F.2d 897, 898 (11th Cir.1985) (per curiam) (Although an appeal had been taken from the district court's judgment in this case and appellants argued that the judgment was not final for the purpose of filing a section 1988 motion for attorneys' fees, this court upheld the Northern District of Georgia local rule requiring motions for attorneys' fees under section 1988 to be filed within fifteen days from entry of final judgment in the district court.).

Under the authority and enforceability accorded district courts in administering their local rules, we examine Zaklama's arguments against the district court's denial of his motion for attorneys' fees under Local Rule 10(F) of the Southern District of Florida. Zaklama first contends that Local Rule 10(F) is ambiguous because it does not specifically state that it applies to motions for attorneys' fees under section 1988. ³ Zaklama supports his contention with Pitts, wherein this court affirmed the district court's denial of section 1988 attorneys' fees for failure to comply timely with the Northern District of Georgia local rule specifically designating that motions for attorneys' fees pursuant to section 1988 must be filed within fifteen days of entry of final judgment. 755 F.2d at 897-98.

We find that the initial principle of statutory interpretation established by the Supreme Court is applicable and determinative in our consideration of the alleged ambiguity of Local Rule 10(F): "The starting point in statutory interpretation is 'the language [of the statute] itself.' " United States v. James, 478 U.S. 597, 604, 106 S.Ct. 3116, 3120, 92 L.Ed.2d 483 (1986) (quoting Blue Chip Stamps v. Manor Drug Stores, 421 U.S. 723, 756, 95 S.Ct. 1917, 1935, 44 L.Ed.2d 539 (1975) (Powell, J., concurring)); Newman v. Soballe, 871 F.2d 969, 971 (11th Cir.1989). Clearly, Local Rule 10(F) requires that all motions for attorneys' fees be filed within thirty days of final judgment. As this court stated in Pitts, section 1988 "is silent as to when motions for attorney's fees are to be filed." 755 F.2d at 898. Both the Northern District of Georgia and the Southern District of Florida have followed the Supreme Court's directive in White to establish time limits for filing claims for attorneys' fees under section 1988. The fact that the Northern District of Georgia has adopted a separate section in its local rules for claims under section 1988 in no way affects the prerogative of the Southern District of Florida to adopt an inclusive local rule governing time limits for all motions for attorneys' fees. See White, 455 U.S. at 454, 102 S.Ct. at 1168; Knighton, 616 F.2d at 798 n. 2; Fed.R.Civ.P. 83. We conclude that Local Rule 10(F) clearly and unambiguously notifies a reasonably diligent attorney that any motion for attorneys' fees must be filed within thirty days of final judgment. ⁴

Zaklama's second argument is that the district court's final judgment, which reserved ruling on attorneys' fees and costs, made Local Rule 10(F) inapplicable to the subject attorneys' fee request. He supports his argument with this court's prior holding that Local Rule 10(F) was not applicable...