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Hamby, et al v. Parnell, et al
Case No. 3:14-cv-00089-TMB
1
Allison Mendel AK Bar #8310136
Mendel & Associates, Inc.
1215 W. 8
th
Ave.
Anchorage, AK 99501
(907) 279-5001
(907) 279-5437
Amendel@mendelandassociates.com
Heather Gardner AK Bar #0111079
Caitlin Shortell AK Bar #0405027
Attorneys for Matthew Hamby, et al

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF ALASKA

MATTHEW HAMBY and CHRISTOPHER
SHELDEN, a married couple, CHRISTINA
LABORDE and SUSAN TOW, a married
couple, SEAN EGAN and DAVID
ROBINSON, a married couple, TRACEY
WIESE and KATRINA CORTEZ, a married
couple, and COURTNEY LAMB and
STEPHANIE PEARSON, unmarried
persons,

Plaintiffs,

vs.

SEAN C. PARNELL, in his official capacity
as Governor of Alaska, MICHAEL
GERAGHTY, in his official capacity as
Attorney General of the State of Alaska,
WILLIAM J . STREUR, in his official
capacity as Commissioner of the State of
Alaska, Department of Health and Social
Services, and PHILLIP MITCHELL, in his
official capacity as State Registrar and
Licensing Officer, Alaska Bureau of Vital
Statistics,

Defendants.

)
)
)
Case No. 3:14-cv-00089-TMB

DECLARATION OF ALLISON E.
MENDEL IN SUPPORT OF MOTION
FOR REASONABLE ATTORNEYS
FEES AND EXPENSES THROUGH
OCTOBER 24, 2014



I, ALLISON E. MENDEL, hereby declare and state as follows:
Exhibit B
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Hamby, et al v. Parnell, et al
Case No. 3:14-cv-00089-TMB
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1. I am a member in good standing of the state bars of Alaska,
California, and Washington. I am inactive in California and Washington. I am
also licensed to practice in the United States District Court and the United
States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. I am submitting this declaration
in support of Plaintiffs Motion for Reasonable Attorneys Fees and Costs. I
have personal knowledge of the matters started in this declaration and could
competently testify to these facts.
2. I am a 1980 graduate of U.C. Davis King Hall School of Law.
As a law student, I clerked for the Alaska Supreme Court during the summer of
1979. I was first licensed to practice law in California in 1980. I was licensed
in Washington in 1982 and Alaska in 1983.
3. I have practiced law in Alaska since 1982. I clerked for J udge
Betty Binns Fletcher of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals from 1980 to 1982.
Before opening my own practice in 1987, I worked for a litigation law firm and
Alaska Legal Services. My current practice consists of family law at the trial
court level, appellate matters in both state and federal court, and civil rights
litigation in both state and federal court. Throughout my experience, I have
written over 75 appellate briefs and have orally argued dozens of cases in the
appellate courts.
4. I have been a speaker and community activist leading the way for
the LGBT community in Anchorage and all of Alaska. My practice also
consists of estate planning for same-sex couples as well as same-sex
Exhibit B
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Hamby, et al v. Parnell, et al
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partnership dissolutions and property divisions. I have long been at the
forefront of litigating issues relating to the legal rights of same-sex partners
and their children in both trial court and appellate court. I was prevailing
counsel in Faipeas v. Municipality of Anchorage (1993) challenging the
petition process for repealing the equal rights ordinance, PFLAG v.
Municipality of Anchorage (D. AK. 2001) challenging the library decision to
remove the pride exhibit, and ACLU v. State (2005) challenging the denial of
employment benefits to partners of gay employees.
5. I was formerly co-chair of the National Lesbian and Gay Law
Association (now the National LGBT Bar Association), an organization of
which I have been a member for twenty years.
6. I am a member of the National Center for Lesbian Rights
National Family Law Advisory Council (an invitation-only group), the
American Bar Association, and of the Family Law Section of the American
Bar Association. I also served on the Alaska Bar Board of Governors for six
years, including one term as Vice President.
7. I was named a Super Lawyer in the area of family law in
Alaska in 2007, 2009, 2011, and 2013. I have also been the recipient of the
Pro Bono Award from the Alaska Bar Association on three separate occasions
and the recipient of the Alaska Civil Liberty Union Liberty Award on two
separate occasions.
Exhibit B
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Hamby, et al v. Parnell, et al
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8. Laurence Blakely, my primary associate on this case, was
admitted to the Alaska bar in 2009. Following a clerkship with Chief J udge
Robert Coats on the Alaska Court of Appeals, she began as an associate at my
firm, Mendel & Associates, Inc., in 2011. Ms. Blakely specializes in legal
research and writing and maintains an independent appellate practice within
my firm.
9. Because I have a small practice, I took a significant financial risk
when I agreed to represent the Plaintiffs. There was no assurance that we
would prevail or that I would ever be compensated for my work. But I
believed that the Plaintiffs deserved zealous and judicious representation and
that the cause was just.
10. This case has since moved on an exceptionally fast track,
demanding a significant commitment of time. Over the last several months, I
have turned away other work because this challenging and expedited litigation
required a significant amount of my available time and focus. This matter,
while unquestionably worthwhile, has been a financial burden to my practice.
11. As defendants counsel discussed in court, the case also
presented complex and novel issues of first impression for this court. Change
has occurred rapidly, requiring the attorneys to be in frequent contact and to
adjust quickly to new developments. For that reason, we met regularly. Each
of the attorneys involved provided necessary and irreplaceable experience,
Exhibit B
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skills, and talents and we used them to focus on the most (and ultimately most
economical) route to prevailing this matter.
12. The case has required very short deadlines that have required
Plaintiffs attorneys to frequently set aside other work to meet the deadlines.
This was both the result of the speed at which the case proceeded through the
court and because changes in this area of law were happening in real time as
the case was in its early stages and strategies were being formulated.
13. Despite these challenges, the efforts of Plaintiffs team have
produced excellent results for our clients. Plaintiffs appear to be the prevailing
parties in this matter. Throughout the state, Alaskans whose rights were
violated by the states discriminatory marriage laws are now able to form
legally recognized families with the rights and responsibilities of marriage.
14. My firm has devoted 326.6 hours to the successful prosecution of
this matter, which is documented by our contemporaneous time records
(Exhibit A). In this matter I have exercised the billing judgment I normally
exercise when reviewing a clients bill. I have excluded many hours that could
have been billed, such as additional hours for review, discussion of the issues
with other attorneys, including co-counsel, meetings with third parties,
(including numerous emails and phone calls) general research bearing upon the
relevant issues before the court, and other work that I believe I could
reasonably request. I have also delegated tasks to associates with lower billing
rates whenever possible.
Exhibit B
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15. In addition to time not billed, my office has incurred other
expenses in this litigation, not reflected in Exhibit A, such as general overhead,
long distance phone charges, copy and postage fees, and a $400 filing fee.
16. My regular hourly rate for civil rights litigation is $425. This has
been my rate since J anuary 1, 2014. My office charges $200 for work
performed by any of our three associate attorneys, and $125 for all work
performed by paralegals. I believe these to be reasonable market rates for
Anchorage, Alaska.
17. Accordingly, I am only requesting to be compensated for hours
devoted by myself, my primary associate on this case, and my paralegals. I am
requesting to be compensated for the following hours through October 24,
2014: for myself, 89.5 hours at $425 per hour; for my primary associate on this
case, 112 hours at $200; for my paralegals time, 110.6 hours at $125. I have
included these hours for work on the Motion for Reasonable Attorneys Fees
and Expenses up to that date. I believe that the requested compensation is
reasonable within this legal community given my background, experience, and
skill; the confluence of complexity, risk, and time demands in this case; and
the degree of success that we have achieved.



Exhibit B
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I sign this Declaration under penalty of perjury under the laws of the
State of Alaska.
Executed in Anchorage, Alaska on this 28
th
day of October 2014.

____________/s/____________
Allison Mendel #8310136
Mendel & Associates, Inc.
1215 W 8th Ave
Anchorage, AK 99501
(907) 279-5001


Exhibit B
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