Case 4:13-cv-00410-KGB Document 43 Filed 12/12/14 Page 1 of 3

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS
RITA AND PAM JERNIGAN and
BECCA AND TARA AUSTIN
v.

PLAINTIFFS
CASE NO. 4:13-CV-00410

LARRY CRANE, In His Official Capacity

As Circuit And County Clerk For Pulaski County
And His Successors In Interest; RICHARD WEISS,
In His Official Capacity As Director Of The Arkansas
Department Of Finance And Administration, And His
Successors In Interest; GEORGE HOPKINS, In His
Official Capacity As Executive Director Of The
Arkansas Teacher Retirement System And His
Successors In Interest; DUSTIN McDANIEL, In His
Official Capacity As Attorney General For The State
Of Arkansas And His Successors In Interest

DEFENDANTS

PLAINTIFFS MOTION FOR

SEPARATE ATTORNEYS FEES AND COSTS
Plaintiffs, as prevailing parties in the captioned case, pursuant to 42 U.S.C.
1988, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(d)(2)(A) and A.C.A. 16-123-107 , move this
Court for an award of fees and costs for separate counsel, Cheryl K. Maples, in the
amount of $15,900.00 in fees and $511.47 in costs. In support of this motion,
plaintiffs submit:

(1) The fee and cost statement of Cheryl K. Maples; and

(2) The brief in support of this motion.

WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs respectfully request that this motion be granted and for
all other relief to which they may be entitled.
.
Dated: December 12, 2014

Case 4:13-cv-00410-KGB Document 43 Filed 12/12/14 Page 2 of 3

Respectfully submitted,
/s/ Cheryl K. Maples________
Cheryl K. Maples ABA# 87109
P. O. Box 1504
Searcy, AR 72145
(501)912-3890
Fax (501)362-2128
Email: ckmaples@aol.com

Certificate of Service
I, the undersigned attorney do hereby state that on this 12TH day of December,
2014 a true and correct copy of the foregoing document was served by email only upon:
David M. Fuqua
Email: dfuqua@fc-lawyers.com
Nga Mahfouz
Email: ngamahfouz@arkansasag.gov
Jack Wagoner
jack@wagonerlawfirm.com
Angela Mann
angela@wagonerlawfirm.com
/s/ Cheryl K. Maples____________________

Case 4:13-cv-00410-KGB Document 43 Filed 12/12/14 Page 3 of 3

Case 4:13-cv-00410-KGB Document 43-1 Filed 12/12/14 Page 1 of 5

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS
RITA AND PAM JERNIGAN and
BECCA AND TARA AUSTIN
v.

PLAINTIFFS
CASE NO. 4:13-CV-00410

LARRY CRANE, In His Official Capacity

As Circuit And County Clerk For Pulaski County
And His Successors In Interest; RICHARD WEISS,
In His Official Capacity As Director Of The Arkansas
Department Of Finance And Administration, And His
Successors In Interest; GEORGE HOPKINS, In His
Official Capacity As Executive Director Of The
Arkansas Teacher Retirement System And His
Successors In Interest; DUSTIN McDANIEL, In His
Official Capacity As Attorney General For The State
Of Arkansas And His Successors In Interest

DEFENDANTS

PLAINTIFFS BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR

ATTORNEYS FEES AND COSTS
Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1988(b), this Court has discretion to award the prevailing
party in an action to enforce civil rights in an action to enforce a provision of 42 U.S.C.
1943 a reasonable attorneys fee as part of its costs. , Farrar v. Hobby, 506 U.S. 103,
111-12 (1992); Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424 (1983; Lowery ex rel v. Watson
Chapel School Dist. 540 F.3d 752 (8th Cir. 2008).
As shown by the opinion, order and judgment of this Court, Plaintiffs are the
prevailing parties in the captioned case and may appropriately apply for attorneys fees,
as well as for costs incurred in the litigation. See Farrar, 506 U.S. at 111-12 ([To]
qualify as a prevailing party, a civil rights plaintiff must obtain at least some relief of the
merits of his claim. . . . In short, a plaintiff prevails when actual relief on the merits of
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Case 4:13-cv-00410-KGB Document 43-1 Filed 12/12/14 Page 2 of 5

his claim materially alters the legal relationship between the parties by modifying the
defendants behavior in a way that directly benefits the plaintiff.) Plaintiffs successfully
challenged the constitutionality of Amendment 83 to the Arkansas Constitution, Act 144
of 1997 and Act 146 of 1997, thereby halting Defendants ability to enforce the
prohibition contained in said Amendment and Acts, and directly benefitting plaintiffs.
The fee request must be reasonable. 42 U.S.C. 1988. Plaintiffs have chosen to
request a basic lodestar amount, which is simply arrived at by the multiplying hours
reasonably expended by the attorneys market rate. City of Burlington v. Dague, 505
U.S. 557 (1992); Blum v. Stenson, 465 U.S. 886 (1984).1 Reasonable hourly rates
should be calculated according to the prevailing market rates in the relevant community
and should be consistent with the rates charged by lawyers of reasonably comparable
skill, experience and reputation.
Plaintiffs have used the market rate of $250.00 for Attorney Cheryl K. Maples.
Because plaintiffs were successful in persuading the Court to invalidate Amendment 83,
Act 144 of 1997 and Act 146 of 1997 in their entirety and to issue a permanent
injunction against Defendants enforcement of same, Plaintiffs are entitled to their total
attorney fees and costs.
Plaintiffs have eliminated any hours which they believe unnecessarily duplicative
work by co-counsel. Throughout the litigation, Plaintiffs counsel have been
conscientious about avoiding the unnecessary duplication of tasks and working
efficiently and effectively to minimize the creation of unnecessary fees and costs. For
instance, wherever possible, counsel utilized research conducted for other pertinent
cases and drawing on pleadings from other cases challenging laws against same-sex

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Case 4:13-cv-00410-KGB Document 43-1 Filed 12/12/14 Page 3 of 5

marriage.
Reasonable out-of-pocked litigation expenses, such as photocopying, paralegal
assistance, travel, and telephone, are recoverable in 1988 fee awards. Assoc. Builders
& Contractors of La., Inc. v. Orleans Parish School Bd., 919 F.2d 374,380 (5th Cir.
1990). Plaintiffs request reimbursement of out-of-pocket litigation expenses as permitted
under 1988.
The following is a brief overview of the fees requested for this Plaintiffs counsel:
Upon filing her Entry of Appearance, this counsel reviewed the docket and all filings. In
that this counsel was involved in another similar case in a state court, this counsel
divided her time carefully between the cases and in the event that her work and/or
expenses at any time were beneficial to both cases equally, her time and/or expenses
were equally divided. This counsel assisted in and monitored the case; did extensive
monitoring of federal court decisions around the country; conducted research;
performed extensive preparation for the hearing and participated in the hearing.
Approxiately 32.50 hours have been redacted due to it being cumulative, nonproductive, unnecessary or duplication in work used in other case.
The amount requested by this plaintiffs counsel are as follows:
FEES
$15,900.00

COSTS
$511.47

WHEREFORE, for the reasons set forth above, Plaintiffs pray that this Court
grant their Motion for Attorney Fees and Costs for this counsel, thereby awarding them
the sum of $15,900.00 in fees and $511.47 in costs to be paid by Defendants, and for
all other relief to which they may be entitled.
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Case 4:13-cv-00410-KGB Document 43-1 Filed 12/12/14 Page 4 of 5

Respectfully submitted,
/s/ Cheryl K. Maples
Cheryl K. Maples ABA# 87109
P. O. Box 1504
Searcy, AR 72145
(501)912-3890
Fax (501)362-2128
Email: ckmaples@aol.com
Certificate of Service
I, the undersigned attorney do hereby state that on this 12th day of December,
2014 a true and correct copy of the foregoing document was served by email only upon:
David M. Fuqua
Email: dfuqua@fc-lawyers.com
Nga Mahfouz
Email: ngamahfouz@arkansasag.gov
Jack Wagoner
jack@wagonerlawfirm.com
Angela Mann
angela@wagonerlawfirm.com

/s/ Cheryl K. Maples___________

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Case 4:13-cv-00410-KGB Document 43-1 Filed 12/12/14 Page 5 of 5

Page 5 of 5

Case 4:13-cv-00410-KGB Document 43-2 Filed 12/12/14 Page 1 of 2

EXHIBIT A
TIME SHEET
7-15-14

Meeting with JW (1/2) (includes travel)

4.25

7-16-14

Review of docket and short entries

2.00

7-24-14

draft Entry of Appearance

0.50

7-25-14

finish entry and efile

0.30

7-26-14

Review of Complaint and Amended Complaint w/ cite search

2.45

7-27-14

Review of Ans to Complaint & Motion to Dismiss w/ cite search

3.00

7-27-14

Review Response to Motion to Dismiss

0.50

7-27-14

Review Motion and Brief for Summary Judgment w/cite search

1.75

7-27-14

Review Statement of Undisputed Facts

0.50

7-30-14

Review AG response and brief to MSJ w/ cite search

3.30

7-30-14

Review AG response to Statement of Undisputed Facts

0.30

8-6-14

Review Motion to Stay and brief

0.50

8-6-14

Research

2.50

8-13-14

Review Response to Motion to Stay and brief

0.75

10-17-14

Review Order Denying Motion to Stay

0.25

10-17-14

Review email from JW on setting hearing

0.10

10-17-14

Email to JW

0.15

10-17-14

Review email response from JW

0.10

10-17-14

Review email from Fuqua

0.10

10-17-14

review email communication from AG

0.10

10-17-14

review email from JW

0.10

10-20-14

Review Notice of Hearing

0.25

11-5-14

Meeting with JW (includes travel)(divided)

2.25

11-7-14

Review 6th Circuit decision (1/2)

1.25

11-7-14

Research (1/2)

3.50

11-9-14

Research and review (1/2)

1.00

Case 4:13-cv-00410-KGB Document 43-2 Filed 12/12/14 Page 2 of 2

11-11-14

Research and review (1/2)

3.00

11-12-14

Research and review (1/2)

2.75

11-14-14

Research and review (1/2)

2.50

11-15-14

Research and review (1/2)

1.50

11-16-14

Hearing prep (1/2)

2.25

11-17-14

hearing prep (1/2)

3.00

11-17-14

review 7 texts messages from JW

0.30

11-18-14

Review Notice

0.10

11-18-14

Hearing preparation (1/2)

2.25

11-19-14

Review Notice

0.10

11-19-14

Hearing preparation (1/2)

5.00

11-19-14

Meeting with JW (w/travel)(divided)

3.00

11-20-14

Hearing (w/travel divided)

4.00

11-21-14

Review text entry from Court

0.10

11-25-14

Review Opinion and Order

0.75

11-25-14

Review Judgment

0.25

TOTAL HOURS

63.60

COSTS:
1347 COPIES AT $0.25 PER PAGE = $336.75
312 MILES AT $0.56 PER MILE = $174.72