Free Motion for Leave - District Court of Colorado - Colorado

Case 1:02-cv-02220-PSF-PAC

Document 142

Filed 11/07/2006

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO Case No. 02-cv-2220-PSF-PAC KAREN LEVELLE, as personal representative for the Estate of Ray LeVelle, Plaintiff, v. PENSKE LOGISTICS, a subsidiary of PENSKE TRUCK LEASING, Defendant. DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE RESPONSE TO PLAINTIFF'S BRIEF CONCERNING ATTORNEYS' FEES AND COSTS

Defendant Penske Logistics, by and through its attorneys, Littler Mendelson, P.C. by Franklin A. Nachman, moves this Honorable Court for Leave to File a Response to Plaintiff's Brief Concerning Attorneys' Fees and Costs, and limited to the issue of the appropriate hourly rate for Plaintiff's counsel's services. Defendant proposes to file this response on or before the close of business on Thursday, November 9, 2006. In support of this Motion, Defendant states as follows: 1. As this Court is aware, on November 3, 2006 the parties filed memoranda and

briefs on the subject of attorneys' fees following the remand of this case by the Tenth Circuit to this Court for the purpose of calculating attorneys' fees for Plaintiff's counsel.

Case 1:02-cv-02220-PSF-PAC

Document 142

Filed 11/07/2006

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2.

In Plaintiff's initial Motion for Attorneys Fees, filed in February 2005 after the

jury's verdict, but before the appeal of this case, Plaintiff's counsel stated that her hourly rate was $250 or $275, depending on whether the time was spent inside or outside court. 3. In Plaintiff's brief filed on November 3, 2006, Plaintiff's counsel claims that on

the basis of her participation in one class action suit in February 2006, while Special Counsel to a law firm, her hourly rate was $350. She now seeks to be reimbursed at that rate for all work in this case, dating back to 2002. Defendant opposes this request, which was raised for the first time in Plaintiff's Brief, filed on November 3, 2006. 4. Because this issue arose for the first time in Plaintiff's most recent court filing and

because it concerns a significant increase in the fees sought by Plaintiff's counsel, Defendant requests leave of court to file a brief response limited to the issue of the appropriate hourly rate. While Defendant believes Plaintiff's Brief misstated certain facts and misapplied certain legal precedents, it believes the other issues have been sufficiently discussed in its previous filings so as not to burden the court and Plaintiff's counsel with additional discussions of those issues. 5. In accordance with Local Rule 7.1 of the District Court, undersigned counsel

attempted to contact Plaintiff's counsel on November 6, 2006 to confer regarding any opposition to this request. At the time of this filing, Plaintiff's counsel has not responded, and based on prior history, undersigned counsel believes she would most likely object to this request. WHEREFORE, Defendant Penske Logistics moves this Honorable Court for leave to respond to Plaintiff's Brief Concerning Attorneys' Fees and Costs, limited to the issue of the appropriate hourly rate, to be file by close of business on November 9, 2006.

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Case 1:02-cv-02220-PSF-PAC

Document 142

Filed 11/07/2006

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Dated this 7th day of November, 2006

Respectfully submitted,

s/ Franklin A. Nachman Franklin A. Nachman LITTLER MENDELSON A Professional Corporation 1200 17th Street, Suite 1000 Denver, CO 80202.5835 Telephone: 303.629.6200 ATTORNEYS FOR DEFENDANT PENSKE LOGISTICS, A SUBSIDIARY OF PENSKE TRUCK LEASING

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that on this 7th day of November, 2006, a true and correct copy of the foregoing DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE RESPONSE TO PLAINTIFF'S MEMORANDUM ON ATTORNEYS' FEES was electronically filed and served via the CM/ECF system which will send notification of such filing to the following. The duly signed original is on file at the office of Littler Mendelson, P.C.: Patricia S. Bangert, Esq. Attorney at Law, LLC 3773 Cherry Creek Drive No., Suite 575 Denver, CO 80209 Teresa Zoltanski 709 Clarkson Denver, CO 80218

s/ Gale S. Antczak
Firmwide:81653254.1 025981.1020

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