[blindlaw] Judge reduces disability costs in fee shifting award

[Tim Elder]

FWIW: I doubt those costs are recoverable regardless of being blind.  Perhaps you could have billed them as a paralegal if they were performing that level of work.  Paralegals often do filings.  However, for the legal assistant, I see very few districts where admin time is compensable.  I suspect it is seen as overhead for the higher hourly rate of the attorney.

Regards,

-----Original Message-----
From: Don Padou [mailto:Don.Padou at yahoo.com] 
Sent: Saturday, November 14, 2015 8:02 PM
To: blindlaw at nfbnet.org
Subject: [blindlaw] Judge reduces disability costs in fee shifting award

Colleagues,

Has anyone had a court hold that costs arising from being blind are non-taxable when considering a fee award under a fee shifting statute?

I represent a client who recently prevailed in a Freedom of Information Act case.The trial court granted our motion for costs and fees.The trial court, however, disallowed costs that I had included that arise from my disability (blindness).

Specifically, the trial court disallowed:

1.$800 in costs I incurred hiring an assistant to act as a guide and amanuensis during hearings.I pay the assistant $25 per hour.(We are in D.C. courts.)

2. $1600 in expenses that I paid to a legal secretary who helps with my filings.The secretary proofreads formats and files my motions and briefs.I pay her $100 per filing no matter if it is a short motion or long motion.

The trial court held that the costs were conservatively calculated, but found that they were non-taxable after discussing the matter with other members of the court.The trial court seemed to hold that the costs were just the overhead of being a blind lawyer.

The cost is a relatively small part of the overall award.I make most of my fees from fee shifting statutes and I am concerned about the precedent being set.

Thanks for any thoughts.

Don Padou