STIPULATION RE: COSTS; [PROPOSED] ORDER

SAUNDRA BROWN ARMSTRONG, District Judge.

STIPULATION

WHEREAS, on November 26, 2014, pursuant to the Court's Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law (Doc. 686), the Court entered judgment in favor of Defendants (Doc. 687);

WHEREAS, Plaintiffs have filed a Notice of Appeal of the Judgment and related rulings and orders;

WHEREAS, on December 10, 2014, Defendants filed a Bill of Costs and Exhibits 1 through 4 thereto, requesting that the Clerk tax costs against Plaintiffs in the amount of $100,684.49;

WHEREAS, on December 22, 2014 the parties met and conferred regarding Defendants' entitlement to costs and the amount of costs, if any, to which Defendants might be entitled, the ability of the Court to deny or limit costs or defer a ruling on costs, and the extent to which the specific costs itemized in Defendants' Bill of Costs are taxable under Local Rule 54-3;

WHEREAS, the parties have agreed, subject to Court approval, that any determination as to Defendants' entitlement to costs and the amount of costs, if any, that Defendants may be awarded will be deferred until after the resolution of Plaintiffs' appeal of the Judgment and related orders;

WHEREAS, the parties have further agreed that, in the event that costs are ultimately awarded to Defendants, and any such award is not limited by factors other than those set forth in Local Rule 54-3 setting forth the standards for taxing costs, the proper amount of taxable costs, taking into consideration Plaintiffs' objections to specific items set forth in the Bill of Costs, is $85,000.00;

WHEREAS, in order to preserve their rights to oppose and object to the award of costs sought by Defendants, Plaintiffs have filed objections to the Bill of Costs pursuant to Rule 54-2 and a motion for an Order denying or limiting an award of costs to Defendants;

THEREFORE, it is hereby stipulated, subject to the approval of the Court, as follows:

1. Any determination on Defendants' entitlement to costs and the amount of such costs, if any, will be deferred until after resolution of Plaintiffs' appeal of the judgment and decision issued by the Court on November 26, 2014.

2. Should Defendants prevail on appeal, and should the Court deny Plaintiffs' motion to deny or limit costs based on applicable law or factors other than the standards set forth in Local Rule 54-3, including, for example Plaintiffs' economic status or the chilling effect of awarding costs against a Plaintiff in a civil rights action, the amount of costs to be awarded to Defendants will be $85,000.00, which amount represents a compromise based on Plaintiffs' objections to Defendant's Bill of Costs.

IT IS SO STIPULATED.

ORDER

Pursuant to the foregoing stipulation of the parties, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that any determination on Defendants' entitlement to costs and the amount of such costs, including any ruling on Plaintiffs' Objections to Defendants' Bill of Costs and any ruling on Plaintiffs' Motion to Deny or Limit an Award of Costs to Defendants, is deferred until after resolution of Plaintiffs' pending appeal of the judgment and related rulings in this case. The briefing schedule on the motion is suspended, and no response to the motion is required, until further Order of this Court.