Letter to Lavender from Wentz RE: Billing of parties for Litigation Expense

    p Copy    
State of North Carolina 

MICHAEL F. EASLEY Department of Justice 

ATTORNEY GENERAL P.O. BOX 629 REPLY TO: Verna Wentz 
Special Litigation 

ALEIGH p g 
RA BG (919) 716-6900 

27602-0629 FAX: (919) 716-6763 

MEMORANDUM 

TO: Betty Lavender 

Gwen Earp 

FROM: Verna Wentz 

DATE: December 3, 1999 

SUBJECT: Biiling of Parties for Litigation Expense -- Cromartie v. Hunt 

Attached are two invoices which reflect the total expense for the daily transcription of the 

Cromartie v. Hunt trial conducted earlier this week. An invoice from Donna Tomawski totals 

$3,050.00 and the other from her scopist, Mary Weil totals $1,208.00. [ am providing the original 

approved invoices to Betty Lavender for payment. 

Further, 1 am providing a copy of these invoices to Gwen Earp for biliing purposes. Prior to 

the trial, parties agreed to divide the expense of a daily transcript equally among Tie parties. All parties 

were interested in having the transcript quickly in order to prepare any post trial briefs or findings of 

tact and conclusions of law and ordering a daily transcript was the only way we couid assure receipt 

of the transcript in the time frame required for preparation of these filings. The court reporter has 

invoiced us for the orginal transcript as the ordering poay and has invoiced the other two patie for 

copies at a rate of $1.00 per page. So the total expense’ of this transcription is: 

  

  

  

    
        

604 pages @ $5.00 (original) $3,020.00 

604 pages @ $1.00 (copy to piaintifis) $604.00 

604 pages @ $1.00 (copy to defendant-intervenors) $604.00 

604 pages @ $2.00 (scopist expense) $1,208.00 

Total expense $5,436.00 
  

  

'The expense of diskettes ($30.00) should not be divided among the parties and is not 

included in the calculations. 

) & 

 



  

Betty Lavender 

Gwen Earp 

December 3, 1999 

Page 2 

Each party is responsible for a total expense of $1,812.00 (one-third of $5,436.00). Since plaintiffs 

and defendant-intervenors have already been billed by the court reporter for $604 each for a copy of 

the transcript, we only need to bill them for $1,208.00 each for their share of the expense of daily 

transcription. Please invoice the parties through counsel at the following addresses: 

Plaintiffs: 

Robinson O. Everett 

Post Office Box 586 

Durham, NC 27702 

Defendant-Intervenors: 

Adam Stein 

‘Ferguson, Stein, Wallas, Adkins, Gresham & Stnmer PA 

312 W. Franklin Street, Suite 2 

"Chapel Hill, NC 27514 

Thank you.