United States District Court - Northern District of Illinois

General Rules

Rule 47

Rule 47 Motions For Attorney's Fees And Related Nontaxable Expenses

A. General Provisions; Definition

The following provisions govern motions seeking any award of attorney's fees or related nontaxable expenses that would be paid by a party to the litigation rather than out of a fund already created by judgment or by settlement. Related nontaxable expenses within the meaning of this Rule means any expenses for which a prevailing party may seek reimbursement other than costs that are taxed by the clerk as of course under Fed.R.Civ.P. 54(d)(1). This Rule does not apply to motions for sanctions under Fed.R.Civ.P. 11 or other sanctions provisions.

B. Duty to Attempt to Agree on Award

Before such a motion is filed with the court, the parties involved shall confer and attempt in good faith to agree on the amount of fees or related nontaxable expenses that should be awarded. If the motion, when filed, will be based on a judgment and any party is appealing or plans to appeal that judgment, no such agreement (unless otherwise provided therein) shall affect any party s right to appeal the fee order resulting from the agreement or to seek a subsequent increase, decrease or vacation of the agreed award in the event the underlying judgment is reversed or modified by subsequent judicial proceedings or settlement.

C. Exchange of Information

During the pre-motion attempt to settle, the parties shall, upon request, provide the following information to each other:

(1) The movant shall provide each party from whom payment is sought (the respondent ) with the time and work records on which the motion will be based, and shall specify the hours for which compensation will and will not be sought. These records may be redacted to prevent disclosure of material protected by the attorney-client privilege or work product doctrine.

(2) The movant shall inform the respondent of the hourly rates that will be claimed for each lawyer, paralegal, or other person. If the movant s counsel or other billers have performed any legal work on an hourly basis during the period covered by the motion, the movant shall provide representative business records sufficient to show the types of litigation in which such hourly rates were paid and the rates that were paid in each type. If the movant s counsel have been paid on an hourly basis in the case in question or in litigation of the same type as the case in question, records showing the rates paid for those services must be provided. If the movant will rely on other evidence to establish appropriate hourly rates, such as evidence of rates charged by attorneys of comparable experience and qualifications or evidence of rates used in previous awards by courts or administrative agencies, the movant shall provide such other evidence.

(3) The movant shall furnish the evidence that will be used to support the related nontaxable expenses to be sought by the motion.

(4) The movant shall provide the respondent with the above information within 21 days of the judgment or settlement agreement upon which the motion is based, unless the court sets a different schedule.

(5) If no agreement is reached after the above information has been furnished, the respondent shall, within 21 days of receipt of that information, disclose the total amount of attorney s fees paid by respondent (and all fees billed but unpaid at the time of the disclosure and all time as yet unbilled and expected to be billed thereafter) for the litigation and shall furnish the following additional information as to any matters (rates, hours, or related nontaxable expenses) that remain in dispute:

(a) the time and work records (if such records have been kept) of respondent s counsel pertaining to the litigation, which records may be redacted to prevent disclosure of material protected by the attorney-client privilege or work product doctrine;

(b) evidence of the hourly rates for all billers paid by respondent during the litigation;

(c) evidence of the specific expenses incurred or billed in connection with the litigation, and the total amount of such expenses; and

(d) any evidence the respondent will use to oppose the requested hours, rates, or related nontaxable expenses.

D. No Admission or Waiver

By providing the opposing party with information under this Rule about the party s hours, billing rates and related nontaxable expenses, no party shall be deemed to make any admission or waive any argument about the relevance or effect of such information in determining an appropriate award.

E. Elimination of Undisputed Issues

Within 14 days after the above exchange of information is completed and before the motion is filed, the parties shall specifically identify all hours, billing rates, or related nontaxable expenses (if any) that will and will not be objected to, the basis of any objections, and the specific hours, billing rates, and related nontaxable expenses that in the parties' respective views are reasonable and should be compensated. The parties will thereafter attempt to resolve any remaining disputes.

F. Confidentiality

All information furnished by any party under section C of this Rule shall be treated as strictly confidential by the party receiving the information. The information shall be used solely for purposes of the fee litigation, and shall be disclosed to other persons, if at all, only in court filings or hearings related to the fee litigation. A party receiving such information who proposes to disclose it in a court filing or hearing shall provide the party furnishing it with prior written notice and a reasonable opportunity to request an appropriate protective order.

G. Joint Statement of Agreed and Contested Matters

If any matters remain in dispute after the above steps are taken, the parties, prior to the filing of the fee motion, shall prepare a joint statementlisting:

(1) the total amount of fees and related nontaxable expenses claimed by the moving party. If the fee request is based on the lodestar method, the statement shall include a summary table giving the name, claimed hours, claimed rates, and claimed totals for each biller;

(2) the total amount of fees and/or related nontaxable expenses that the respondent deems should be awarded. If the fees are contested, the respondent shall include a similar table giving respondent's position as to the name, compensable hours, appropriate rates, and totals for each biller listed by movant;

(3) a brief description of each specific dispute remaining between the parties as to the fees or expenses;

(4) a statement disclosing (a) whether the motion for fees and expenses will be based on a judgment or on a settlement of the underlying merits dispute, and (b) if the motion will be based on a judgment, whether respondent has appealed or intends to appeal that judgment.

The parties shall cooperate to complete preparation of the joint statement no later than 70 days after the entry of the judgment or settlement agreement on which the motion for fees will be based, unless the court orders otherwise.

H. The Motion for Fees and Related Nontaxable Expenses

The movant shall attach the joint statement to the motion for fees and related nontaxable expenses. Unless otherwise allowed by the court, the motion and any supporting or opposing memoranda shall limit their argument and supporting evidentiary matter to disputed issues.

I. Motion for Instructions

Where it appears that the procedures set forth in this Rule cannot be followed within the time limits established by the Rule or order of court because of the inability of the parties to resolve a dispute over what materials are to be turned over or the meaning of a provision of the Rule, or because of the failure of one or more of the parties to provide information required by the Rule, or because there are other disputes between the parties that cannot be resolved after good faith attempts, a motion may be filed seeking instructions from the court. The motion shall state with specificity the nature of the dispute or items not turned over and the attempts made to resolve the dispute or to obtain the items. The motion must be filed not later than 10 days following the expiration of the time within which the matter in dispute or the materials not turned over should have been delivered in accordance with the time table set out in this Rule or in the court s order.

J. Modification of Time Schedules

The court may on motion filed pursuant to section I of this rule or on its own initiative modify any time schedule provided for by this rule.

Appendix to local General Rule 47

SAMPLE JOINT STATEMENT

Pursuant to section G of local General Rule 47, the parties submit the following Joint Statement with respect to plaintiff s motion for fees and expenses:

1. Plaintiff claims attorney's fees of $102,425 and related nontaxable expenses of $12,578.40. Plaintiff calculates this claim as follows:

Lawyer Hours Rate Totals

Smith 300 $245 73,500

Jones 175 $110 19,250

Johnson 65 $95 6,175

Wilson (paralegal) 70 $50 3,500

Total $ 102,425

2. Defendant s position is that fees should be awarded on the following basis:

Lawyer Hours Rate Totals

Smith 200 200 40,000

Jones 175 110 19,250

Johnson 40 95 3,800

Wilson 70 50 3,500

Total $ 66,550

Defendant s position is that related nontaxable expenses of $11,380.00 should be awarded.

3. The specific disputes remaining between the parties are the following:

(a) The appropriate hourly rate for Smith;

(b) Whether 100 hours spent by Smith and 25 hours spent by Johnson on the state claim should be compensated;

(c) Whether $1,198.40 spent on deposition transcripts of four specific witnesses (Banks, Davis, George, and Penny) should be compensable.

4. The underlying judgment in the case will not be appealed and the only remaining dispute in the litigation is the appropriate fee award.