Judge Questions Need for Second Attorney in Gates Civil Rights Case

In weighing a request for almost $308,000 in legal fees from two attorneys who won a civil rights verdict against Orange County Sheriff Brad Gates, a federal judge on Monday questioned the need for the second lawyer and told the lead counsel: “You could have tried this case by yourself.”

But U.S. District Judge Richard A. Gadbois Jr. held off ruling on the fee request, which attorneys for the county are challenging as exorbitant.

In March, a federal jury awarded $189,894 to private investigator Preston Guillory, a political rival of Gates who claimed the sheriff used his police powers to harass him and bring unfounded criminal charges against him.

Following that verdict, Guillory’s two lawyers put in a request to collect from the county about $13,000 in court expenses plus $307,982.50 in their own fees--based on a combined 1,760 hours they said they worked, at $175 per hour.

Under federal law, the losing party in a civil claim is obligated to pay reasonable legal costs to the victor. But in a brief hearing Monday morning, attorneys for the county repeated their charge that the billed work by Guillory’s legal team is “far too broad” and excessive. They are seeking to cut the fee request by about half.

And Judge Gadbois, commending Michael J. Cisarik of Santa Ana as “an exceedingly competent attorney,” questioned why he needed another lawyer--Meir Westreich of Glendale--to help him with the case.

Cisarik responded that the demands of a case that spanned 4 years of preparation and 6 weeks of trial were simply too great for one lawyer, particularly against the legal resources that the county had put into the case.

Cisarik, in supporting his claim for the fees, said he sought the county’s records of its own legal costs in the case but was denied access. He charges that the county is trying to hide “the fact that the taxpayers of the County of Orange paid for so many defense lawyers, one of which did nothing more than pour water for counsel and cue the tape recording devices during trial.”