Affidavit of Vanzetta Penn Durant
Public Court Documents
June 5, 1984

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Case Files, Bozeman v. Lambert and Wilder v. Lambert Court Documents. Affidavit of Vanzetta Penn Durant, 1984. dcccdd1a-ed92-ee11-be37-6045bdeb8873. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/bf8d916d-f247-44c8-8732-d8ead6ff6baf/affidavit-of-vanzetta-penn-durant. Accessed October 19, 2025.
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SIATE OF ALABAMA ) COUNTY OF MONTGOMERY) NECEIVE D 'Brt JUN hr nUt l0 r U E OF trl+l miia, ! quuop, * o*, Bef ore *. , ''i't','!' ,ro.i.t iLfi[d' i'Not ary appeared VANZEITA PENN DURANT, who being by me first being duly sworn on her oath, follows: FILED JUN 5 SB4 THOMAS C. CAVER, CLEtiK ev -5ar--ull1tERt'{- Pub 1 i c, personal 1y known to ffi€, and who deposes and says as My name is Vanzetta Penn Durant; my resi- dence address is 321 North Anton Dri ve, Montgomery, Alabama 36105; I am in the solo practice of law with offices at Mont- gomery, Al ab ama. I h ave been act i ve 1y engaged in the pract'ice of law in the state of A'abama since 1975. I am a member of the Bar in good stand'i ng of the State of Alabama and the State of New York, and i h ave been admi t ted to pr act i ce before the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, the United States Distri ct Court for the Midd le Djstrict of A"abama, the United States Dis- tri ct Court for the Southern Distri ct of New York, the Uni ted States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and the Un'ited States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. A substanti a1 portjon of my practice has consjsted of the prepara- tion for trial and tri al of civil rights cases and in cases jnvolving the'litigation of the constitutional ri ghts of ind'i viduals. The successful preparation and trial of cases of th'is nature necessari 1y involved the'inspection, copying, examina- tion, analysis and evaluation of a substanti al number of documents and transcri pts of prior proceed'ings. The cus tomary fees ch arged for th i s type of work in Federal Courts in the State of A'abama range f rom approx'imate ly $60 per hour to over $100 per hour. I am of the oPinion that during mY experience as a private practit'ioner, I have developed a degree of ski ll in the re- presentation of clients in litigation 'involving constitutional law issues, and th at my sk i 1 I and experi ence f aci l'itated my representation of the Petitioners in thjs case and contri buted to the success of their Petitions. The Petitioners and I generally agreed -2- th at I wou ld be compensated pursu ant to 42 U.S.C. Section 1988. The Petitioners were indigent at the time their Petitions were filed and were granted leave by this Court to file in Forma Pauperis. The Petitjoners have not paid any fees or costs in this case. To that extent, the fee arrangement between the Petitioners and me can be deemed to have been cont'ingent . I have not prev'ious Iy represented either Petitioner nor have I had any prof ess'ional rel ationshi p wi th them other than as their attorney'in this case. As a result of my representation, Petitioner Bozeman ' s conv i ct i on was vac ated , and the obv'ious st'igma of a criminal conv'i ction was thereby removed. Moreover, in asmuch as Pe- t i t i oner Bozeman was a paro I ee, the restra'ints upon her dai ly activities, her associ ations, her trave'l , and the exercise of other civil rights vrere removed. Peti- tioner Wi lder's convi ction was not vacated as a result of my representat'ion, however, this Court's 0rder and Memorandum 0pinion are tantamount to a reversal of her convic- tion, thereby raising a substantial likeli- -3- hood th at she too wi I I be free of the stigma 'imposed by a criminal conviction and the resulting restraints on her daily act'ivit'ies, h€r associ ations, her travel, and her exerci se of other c'i vi I ri ghts. In securing relief jn these cases, the f o I'lowi ng servi ces were perf ormed by me: Date Serv i ces Rendered Time 04/05/83 04/06/83 04/Zsl83 0s/05/83 06/01/83 06/08/03 06/29/83 07 /01/ 83 07 /05/83 07 /07 / 83 07 /20l83 07 /26l83 08/08/83 Telephone conference wi th Ms. Gui ni er Telephone conf erence w'i th Ms. Guinier Telephone conf erence w'ith Ms. Guinier Telephone conference w'i th Ms. Guinier Telephone conference with Ms. Guinier Telephone conference with Ms. Guinier Review of documents and avai lable fi les Telephone conference with Ms. Guinier Telephone conference with United States D'istrict CIerk's 0ffice and with Ms. Brown re issues; rev'iew of documents; prepara- tion of Motion to Appear Pro Hac Vice; telephone conference with Ms. Guinier Research of issues; organi zation of fi le Telephone conf erence wi th Ms. Guini er; te I ephone conf erence wi th Mr . Cope'l and ( Law C lerk ) ; revi ew of documents Research of issues; review of documents Tel ephone conference wi th Ms . Gu i n i er ; telephone conference with Mr. Miller (Lrw Clerk) .1 .1 .2 .2 .t .5 1.1 .1 1.5 2.5 1.0 1.5 .5 -4- 09/02/83 09 / 08/ 83 09/L9/83 09/22/83 09/30/83 l0/03/83 L0/04/83 t0/06/83 11/08/83 L2/01/83 l?/02/83 12/Ls/83 L2/23/83 01/03/84 0L/24/84 0L/27 / 84 0L/30/84 Revi ew of Court 0rder denyi ng Mot i on to Dismiss Telephone conference wi th Mr. Knopf ( LDF counse I ) ; letter to Mr. Knopf; re- vi ew of 0rder ; te I ephone conference wi th Ms. Brown re transcri pts felephone conference with Ms. Guinier; let- ter to Ms. Guinier re 0rder Telephone conference with Ms. Guinier Telephone conference wi th Ms. Gu i ni er and with Mr. Mi I Ier; review of pleadings and memor and a .3 .5 .5 .4 1.0 1.0 Preparat'ion of Motions to phone conference wi th Ms. Te I ephone conf erence w'i t h disposition on Motions; te ence wi th Ms. Brown Telephone conference wi th Letter to Ms. Guinier; tel with Mr. M'i ller re transcr Telephone conference wi th transcripts Te I ephone conference wi t h Review of file documents; ference wi th Mr. Mi I I er re hearing Letter to Ms. Guinier Telephone conference wi th Telephone conference wi th Te1 ephone conference wi th with Mr. M'i ller felephone conference with Ms. Gu'inier Produce; te I e- Gu i n i er Mr. Miller re 1 ephone confer- .4 Mr. Miller .1 ephone conferen ce ipts .5 Mr. Miller re .1 Mr. Miller .1 telephone con- date for .4 .2 Ms. Guinier .4 Ms. Guinier .2 Ms. Guinier and .5 Ms. Brown and .3 Tel ephone conference wi th Ms . Gui n i er re02/17 / 84 -5- Summary Judgment Motion Telephone conference with Ms. Brown and wi th Mr. Mi I ler re amendment Conference with Ms. Guinier; review of pleadings and memoranda Hearing on Summary Judgment Motions; con ferences with Ms. Guinier and with Peti- tioners Let ter to Ms . Gu i n'i er Conference with Ms. Guinier and with LDF New York offi ce; revi ew of Judg- ments and 0rders; te 1 ephone conferences with Mrs. Bozeman and Mrs. Wilder Letters to clients Telephone conf erence w'ith Ms. Gu'inier letter to Mr. SeaY Telephone conferences wi th Ms. Guinj er Preparation of Motion for A'lowance of Attorney's Fees and Costs Petit'ion; te phone conf erences wi th Ms . Gu'in'ier , Ms Brown, and with United States Clerk's of f i ce .5 02/2U84 03/0L/84 03/02/84 03/05/84 04/L3/84 04/L6/84 04/19/84 04/24/84 04/25/84 L 4.5 .7 .t 3.4 .4 .4 .3 4.8 $7s4.00 6 le- TOTAL SERVICES $20.00 per hour EXPENSES RENDERED - 37.7 at fo'l lowi ng expenses reasonab 1y 'incurred his case up to and pri I 1984: 'i ng - 567 copies at 0.25 per copy The and in t 25A c opy $ Post Lon g TOTA EXPE were necessari 1y in securing rel'ief including age $141.75 44.18 55.09d'i stance telephone calls SERVICES RENDERED ANDL N SES S 995.02 -6- ) t.r STATE OF ALABAMA ) COUNTY OF I{ONTGOMERY) I , the unders i gned vAN zETTA PENN DURANT ' hereby certify that I have read the above and foregoing ltlotion and Affidavit and know the contents thereof and that the matters and things set forth therein are true and correct. Suorn to and day of Apri l, 1984. subscribed before me this the,.,''5 th -7-