Real-Life Math
You're a litigation paralegal and you've just helped win your first
case. Your client, Jane Healy, was injured in a car accident when a drunk
driver rammed into the side of her vehicle. She decided to file a lawsuit,
and since that's your law firm's specialty, she came to you.
After
months of work on your part, Healy won at the trial against defendants Charles
Raymond (the drunk driver), Raymond's employer (Allegretti and Sons), Tony
Simpson (the bartender) and Red's Tavern (the establishment where the alcohol
was served).
But the work's not quite done yet. In many instances,
the "prevailing party" -- the side that wins the lawsuit -- is entitled to
ask the court to recover some of the expenses that went into the lawsuit and
trial proceedings. So Jane Healy wants to get back as much money as she can.
She has to file:
- Motion to Assess Attorney Fees
- Bill of Costs
The totals from both these documents are what will make up Healy's
legal expenses. Can you come up with a total figure for the expenses? Here's
what you need to calculate the Motion to Assess Attorney Fees:
In the
Healy case, there were two attorneys, Mayson (who charges $90 an hour), and
Bing (who charges $125 an hour). There were also two paralegals, Leopold (who
charges $40 an hour) and Turner (who charges $55 an hour). As is often the
case, one of the attorneys was promoted during the course of the case. After
and including Sept. 6, Mayson's rate is $110 per hour.
Paralegals have
to sift through documents to get the numbers they need -- below is a log noting
the hours spent by each person during the trial.
| DATE | PERSON | # OF
HOURS |
| June 26 | Mayson | 5.00 |
| July 1 | Mayson | 4.80 |
| July 10 | Mayson | 2.80 |
| July 11 | Mayson | 1.50 |
| July 12 | Mayson | 3.50 |
| July 25 | Turner -
Mayson - | 0.50
1.90 |
| Aug. 26 | Leopold -
Mayson - | 4.00
6.90 |
| Aug. 27 | Leopold -
Mayson - | 2.50
10.70 |
| Aug. 28 | Turner -
Mayson - | 0.50
6.40 |
| Aug. 29 | Bing -
Mayson - | 0.60
4.70 |
| Aug. 30 | Mayson | 4.90 |
| Sept. 2 | Mayson | 7.40 |
| Sept. 3 | Mayson | 6.90 |
| Sept. 4 | Mayson | 8.50 |
| Sept. 5 | Turner -
Mayson - | 0.25
6.00 |
| Sept. 6 | Mayson | 2.50 |
| Sept. 10 | Mayson | 4.80 |
| Sept. 11 | Bing | 2.00 |
| Sept. 12 | Bing -
Mayson - | 2.00
0.30 |
| Sept. 13 | Mayson | 2.80 |
| Sept. 14 | Mayson | 0.40 |
| Sept. 15 | Mayson | 0.20 |
| Sept. 16 | Mayson | 8.40 |
Here's what you need to figure out the Bill of Costs, which considers
other expenses the attorneys had during your case:
Postage
-- $3.62
Copies -- $286.81
Faxes -- $46
Long-distance call --
$12.72
Mileage and parking -- $17.95
Fees paid to court reporters
for taking four depositions $2,743.25
NOTE:
Your supervising attorney reminds you that only some of the above expenses
are recoverable. The costs for copying of legal documents, court transcripts
and fees paid to expert witnesses are recoverable -- the rest aren't.
What's
the grand total of expenses to be recovered? And considering the total will
be split among the defendants equally, how much of Healy's expenses will Mr.
Raymond end up paying?