Affidavit of Vanzetta Penn Durant
Public Court Documents
June 5, 1984
Cite this item
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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 December 05, 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
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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-
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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
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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
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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
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