| Davis Polk Was Sued By
Kaloma Cardwell, Jeh Johnson Complained Now
Fee Level Question
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
June 28 – Kaloma
Cardwell filed a racial
discrimination case against
his employer, the "white shoe"
law firm of Davis Polk and
Wardwell.
He'd been
employed there from September
2014 through August 2018, then
alleged that "defendants
quarterbacked and permitted a
playbook that marginalized,
discriminated against and
retaliated against Plaintiff,
the only Black male associate
in the Davis Polk's 2014
associate class." Then there
was a delay in discovery.
U.S.
District Court for the
Southern District of New York
Judge Gregory H. Woods held a
proceeding on July 28. Inner
City Press covered
it.
On March 22 on
very little notice, Judge
Woods held another proceeding.
Inner City Press covered it.
The defendant's lawyer Jeh
Johnson was complaining that
Kaloma Cardwell had declined
to show up for his deposition,
despite they said their
promises to limit access to
the transcript. Cardwell's
lawyer said the defense does
not have an automatic right to
a "fourteen hour deposition."
Now on June 28,
things are moving to sanctions
and fees: "MEMORANDUM OPINION
AND ORDER: Fundamentally, the
discovery deficiencies at
issue in Defendants' motion to
compel are of the type that
are expected to be resolved
without the need for court
intervention. Rule 37(a)(5)
creates an incentive for
parties to work through such
disputes, rather than to
submit them to a court for
resolution. Civil litigators
are expected to be aware of
the fee shifting nature of the
rule; Defendants were not
required to specifically
request an award of fees.
Regardless of how he is being
compensated, or his level of
experience in this area of
practice, it is not unjust in
this context to expect
Plaintiff's counsel to comply
with the rules and to bear the
economic consequences of
non-compliance. However, the
Court cannot evaluate the
proper amount of an award
without the documents referred
to above. Accordingly, the
Court requests that Defendants
submit the relevant billing
records to the Court no later
than July 15, 2021. In the
event that Defendants wish to
provide a substantive reply to
Plaintiff's opposition limited
to the issue of the
reasonableness of their fees,
they may do so by the same
date. The Clerk of Court is
directed to terminate the
motion pending at Dkt No. 43.
SO ORDERED. (Signed by Judge
Gregory H. Woods on
6/28/2021)." Watch this site.
Back on November
13, Judge Woods held another
conference in the case, one
not listed in the Calendar
Events section of PACER. Paul
Weiss as counsel for Davis
Polk had gotten amended
complaint(s) filed on November
9 provisionally sealed,
claiming that material in and
annexed to them are in the
protective order.
On December 9,
Davis Polk trashed what they
call Cardwell's "continued
refusal to return Firm
material or produce documents
he promised the Court would be
forthcoming." They also chide
him for filing material
stamped "Confidential."
On January 20
they itemized $99,565.20 they
want in legal fees, with Bruce
Birenboim charging $5,791.50
for 3.9 hours and Susanna
Buergel $21,384 for 14.4
hours.
And on February
1, Jeh Johnson appeared. Inner
City Press live tweeted, here:
The gloves
are off - Davis Polk is asking
for sanctions against Cardwell
/ lawyer David Jeffries for
alleging that evaluation of
plaintiff was back-dated, says
the amended complaint contains
"conspiracy theories."
Davis
Polk's lawyer derides Cardwell
for claiming that a Davis Polk
person asked him for "a black
restaurant recommendation in
Harlem" - says it was for a
restaurant "near the Apollo
Theater." Wants Rule 11
sanctions for baseless
allegations. "Over."
Cardwell's
lawyer: Rule 11 is not the
appropriate vehicle to address
this issue. Defendants told is
the issue could be addressed
by amending the complaint and
we did that. We got 99,000
pages in January. 40,000 in
December.
Judge Woods:
Counsel for Plaintiff, you're
in the Safe Harbor period. The
Advisory Committee notes
specify candor in
acknowledging a lack of
factual support.
Jeh Johnson of
Paul Weiss, for David Polk:
They have withdrawn the
so-called Black Restaurant
allegation.
Judge Woods: So I
understand the Safe Harbor has
expired and the motion can be
brought. So we'll have motion
practice.
Counsel for
Cardwell: We will withdraw.
Judge Woods:
Withdraw from Second Amended
Complaint Para 408, 409 and
410 & the 449 last
sentence about Ms Hudson
asking for a recommendation
for a "Black restaurant"?
Counsel for
Cardwell: Yes, Judge
The case is
Cardwell v. Davis Polk and
Wardwell LLP et al, 19cv10256
(Woods)
***
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