Case: 3:14-cv-00064-bbc Document #: 168 Filed: 12/12/14 Page 1 of 5

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

WESTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN

VIRGINIA WOLF, et al.,

Plaintiffs,
v.

Case No. 14-cv-64 (BBC)

SCOTT WALKER, et al.,

Defendants.
______________________________________________________________________________
DECLARATION OF MICHAEL R. FOX IN SUPPORT OF
PLAINTIFFS APPLICATION FOR FEES AND COSTS
______________________________________________________________________________
I, Michael R. Fox, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1746, declare as follows:
1.

I am an attorney licensed to practice in all courts in the State of Wisconsin

and I am filing this affidavit in support of the fee petition of Plaintiffs in the abovecaptioned matter.
2.

I graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1976. Since law

school I have practiced as a trial lawyer in the State of Wisconsin on both the trial and
appellate level as well as in the federal district courts in Wisconsin and the Seventh
Circuit Court of Appeals.
3.

I am the founding member of the firm Fox & Fox, S.C. My law firm has

offices in Monona (Madison), Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Chicago, Illinois. I

practice out of the Madison area office, which is located at 124 West Broadway, Monona,
Wisconsin 53716.
1

Case: 3:14-cv-00064-bbc Document #: 168 Filed: 12/12/14 Page 2 of 5

4.

Over the past thirty years I have been honored in Best Lawyers in America,

Chambers U.S.A., U.S. News and World Report--Law and Politics, Madison Magazine,
Milwaukee Magazine and the American Lawyer. The law firm of Fox & Fox, S.C. is rated as
a Tier I Plaintiffs Labor and Employment Law Firm by Best Lawyers in America and was
rated as the number one plaintiffs employment law firm in Wisconsin by Chambers U.S.A.
I am an elected member of the Wisconsin chapter of the American Board of Trial
Advocates (limited to approximately 66 members with more than 30 jury trials of three
days or more); the American College of Employment Lawyers and the Litigation Counsel
of America. I am listed as one of the 100 top trial lawyers in Wisconsin by the American
Trial Lawyers Association. For more than 35 years I have taught courses in all aspects of
trial and appellate law. I participated as a presenter or panel member in continuing
education panels both in Wisconsin and around the country. I was chosen the 2010 and
2013 Madison Area Employment Lawyer of the Year and one of the Wisconsin Law
Journals 2012 Leaders in the Law.
5.

During my career as an attorney I have successfully litigated hundreds of

cases involving employment, personal injury, legal malpractice, intellectual property,

business

disputes,

breaches

of

fiduciary

duty,

products

liability,

and

whistleblower/retaliation complaints. I have litigated many of these cases to verdict on

behalf of individual clients, obtaining, on numerous occasions, awards and settlements
in excess of one million dollars.
6.

My current billable hourly rate is $650.00 per hour. In 2011, my then current

rate of $525.00 per hour was found by the United States District Court for the Western
2

Case: 3:14-cv-00064-bbc Document #: 168 Filed: 12/12/14 Page 3 of 5

District of Wisconsin to be a reasonable rate for my services based on my knowledge,

training and demonstrated skills, in Dubin v. MATC, 10-cv-35-wmc, when the Court
awarded my firm more than $450,000.00 in fees and costs over the objection of opposing
counsel. See http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/wisconsin/wiwdc/
3:2010cv00035/27606/195. $650.00 per hour is the rate I currently charge and receive for
all hourly matters. The bulk of my work is taken on a contingency fee basis and it is not
unusual for me to decline work where the client seeks to engage me on an hourly fee
basis in favor of work I can take on a contingency fee basis because, on average, I can
exceed my standard hourly rate by taking the risk of not being paid at all.
7.

I have presented at continuing legal education (CLE) courses in the State of

Wisconsin and for various organizations in various locales around the United States. I
would estimate that I have given CLE presentations on more than 100 occasions
addressing trial practice, employment and constitutional law. I have been qualified in the
Courts of the State of Wisconsin to testify as an expert on reasonable fees for the purpose
of lodestar calculations in employment cases. Since a high percentage of my cases
involve fee-shifting statutes I must, as a part of my ongoing database, keep current with
regard to the fees that are being charged by lawyers in various areas of the country
including Wisconsin and Illinois. I keep abreast of this information not only to set our
firm rates in the competitive market but also to be able to present to the Court an
informed opinion as to why those rates are reasonable.

Case: 3:14-cv-00064-bbc Document #: 168 Filed: 12/12/14 Page 4 of 5

8.

I have reviewed the submissions in support of the fee petition in this case

including the relevant declarations of counsel and other documents that detail the legal
proceedings for which the plaintiffs seek fees as prevailing parties.
9.

As a result of my broad experience with and knowledge gained from

litigation, teaching and national organizations comprised of civil rights attorneys, I have
gained special and reliable knowledge regarding rates charged by attorneys from
Wisconsin, New York and Illinois of similar skill knowledge and experience to the
attorneys for whom fees are sought in this matter. Because my firm has offices in Illinois
and I have practiced in Illinois, I have particular familiarity with rates in those locations.
10.

I have been involved in fee litigation and fee contracts where the issue of

reasonable fees in New York, Chicago and Wisconsin have been implicated. The
requested rates in this case are all reasonable for the locales requested.
11.

The work described in the supporting affidavits for the fee application in

this case easily triples the work for which I was awarded the fees and costs in excess of
$450,000.00 by the Western District in the 2011 litigation described in 6 if this
declaration. The 2011 award to which I refer represents fees and costs through a three
day trial and verdict and does not represent the subsequent post trial motions and appeal
involved in that litigation. The issues here were far more complex and the ferocity of the
opposition was conspicuously more dogged than the more typical jury trial for which I
received that award.
12.

This was clearly an all hands on deck case that required extremely

sophisticated legal and procedural mastery. Cases that are litigated on an expedited
4

Case: 3:14-cv-00064-bbc Document #: 168 Filed: 12/12/14 Page 5 of 5

schedule typically require more rather than less attorney time, because urgency requires
the division of similar tasks among multiple lawyers resulting in some overlap and
inefficiency in coordinating the final product.
13.

It is my opinion that not only are the rates applied for reasonable, but the

case was efficiently litigated and the application reflects billing judgment in the
subtraction of fees that is well within the range of reasonableness for billing judgment
that could be expected in the representation of a private client on a matter similar in its
time demands and complexity.
DECLARANTS CERTIFICATION
Michael R. Fox hereby declares, under penalty of perjury, pursuant to 28 U.S.C.
1746, that the forgoing statements are true and correct.

/s/ Michael R. Fox

__________________________
Michael R. Fox