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Judge: Lower Merion must pay attorney in laptop case
On Monday Lower Merion School District was ordered by Senior U.S. District Judge Jan E. DuBois to pay attorney Mark Haltzman his fees and costs in a civil case involving allegations school officials improperly used webcam-enabled laptops to spy on students.
DuBois said Haltzman deserves to be paid for work that led to a May 14 injunction barring the district from secretly monitoring activity on school-provided laptops.
According to district spokesman Doug Young, the judge did not indicate a specific figure, although Haltzman said the district should pay him about $260,000. DuBois ordered the parties to meet to figure out Haltzman’s pre-May 14 fees and costs, according to Doug Young.
“If the parties cannot agree to a figure, then ... the judge has to decide,” Young stated in an e-mail.
In February Haltzman filed a lawsuit against Lower Merion School District on behalf of Harriton High School student Blake Robbins. The suit claimed school officials used a webcam to spy on him at home. The district has admitted that it could snap webcam photos, take screenshots and record IP addresses in 15-minute increments. Since then another student, Jalil Hasan from Lower Merion High School, has filed suit and is being represented by Haltzman.
Haltzman is seeking over $420,000 that he said his firm has incurred since July. Of that amount, $88,000 is for the work done by John Steinbach, a computer forensic consultant Haltzman hired. The consultant took a cloned copy of one of four computers used by district technology employee Michael Perbix in order to compare the information in the Ballard Spahr report. The results of that review have not been made public.
The judge said in his order that Haltzman can only collect fees and expenses up through the May 14 preliminary injunction against the district. DuBois said Haltzman can submit the balance of his bills at the end of the case.
In a district response to DuBois’ order, Young wrote:
“We are deeply disappointed with any order awarding any portion of fees to the Robbinses’ attorney. The work was not needed for the stated purpose of changing district policies. Immediately upon learning that the laptop tracking system had been used improperly, the district halted the use of the system, launched an independent investigation, quickly revealed the findings and began the process of overhauling technology policies in collaboration with the community and technology experts. The process concluded earlier this month, well in advance of the start of the new school year. The district was also cleared this month by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“We are also disappointed that Judge DuBois gave only fleeting consideration to the detailed arguments made by our counsel and the positions taken by a representative group of community interveners. We believe that the Robbinses’ attorney has protracted this matter, increasing costs to taxpayers. We hope for a speedy resolution to the litigation that limits any further taxpayer expense.”
DuBois said Haltzman deserves to be paid for work that led to a May 14 injunction barring the district from secretly monitoring activity on school-provided laptops.
According to district spokesman Doug Young, the judge did not indicate a specific figure, although Haltzman said the district should pay him about $260,000. DuBois ordered the parties to meet to figure out Haltzman’s pre-May 14 fees and costs, according to Doug Young.
“If the parties cannot agree to a figure, then ... the judge has to decide,” Young stated in an e-mail.
In February Haltzman filed a lawsuit against Lower Merion School District on behalf of Harriton High School student Blake Robbins. The suit claimed school officials used a webcam to spy on him at home. The district has admitted that it could snap webcam photos, take screenshots and record IP addresses in 15-minute increments. Since then another student, Jalil Hasan from Lower Merion High School, has filed suit and is being represented by Haltzman.
Haltzman is seeking over $420,000 that he said his firm has incurred since July. Of that amount, $88,000 is for the work done by John Steinbach, a computer forensic consultant Haltzman hired. The consultant took a cloned copy of one of four computers used by district technology employee Michael Perbix in order to compare the information in the Ballard Spahr report. The results of that review have not been made public.
The judge said in his order that Haltzman can only collect fees and expenses up through the May 14 preliminary injunction against the district. DuBois said Haltzman can submit the balance of his bills at the end of the case.
In a district response to DuBois’ order, Young wrote:
“We are deeply disappointed with any order awarding any portion of fees to the Robbinses’ attorney. The work was not needed for the stated purpose of changing district policies. Immediately upon learning that the laptop tracking system had been used improperly, the district halted the use of the system, launched an independent investigation, quickly revealed the findings and began the process of overhauling technology policies in collaboration with the community and technology experts. The process concluded earlier this month, well in advance of the start of the new school year. The district was also cleared this month by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“We are also disappointed that Judge DuBois gave only fleeting consideration to the detailed arguments made by our counsel and the positions taken by a representative group of community interveners. We believe that the Robbinses’ attorney has protracted this matter, increasing costs to taxpayers. We hope for a speedy resolution to the litigation that limits any further taxpayer expense.”
On Monday Lower Merion School District was ordered by Senior U.S. District Judge Jan E. DuBois to pay attorney Mark Haltzman his fees and costs in a civil case involving allegations school officials improperly used webcam-enabled laptops to spy on students.
DuBois said Haltzman deserves to be paid for work that led to a May 14 injunction barring the district from secretly monitoring activity on school-provided laptops.
According to district spokesman Doug Young, the judge did not indicate a specific figure, although Haltzman said the district should pay him about $260,000. DuBois ordered the parties to meet to figure out Haltzman’s pre-May 14 fees and costs, according to Doug Young.
“If the parties cannot agree to a figure, then ... the judge has to decide,” Young stated in an e-mail.
In February Haltzman filed a lawsuit against Lower Merion School District on behalf of Harriton High School student Blake Robbins. The suit claimed school officials used a webcam to spy on him at home. The district has admitted that it could snap webcam photos, take screenshots and record IP addresses in 15-minute increments. Since then another student, Jalil Hasan from Lower Merion High School, has filed suit and is being represented by Haltzman.
Haltzman is seeking over $420,000 that he said his firm has incurred since July. Of that amount, $88,000 is for the work done by John Steinbach, a computer forensic consultant Haltzman hired. The consultant took a cloned copy of one of four computers used by district technology employee Michael Perbix in order to compare the information in the Ballard Spahr report. The results of that review have not been made public.
The judge said in his order that Haltzman can only collect fees and expenses up through the May 14 preliminary injunction against the district. DuBois said Haltzman can submit the balance of his bills at the end of the case.
In a district response to DuBois’ order, Young wrote:
“We are deeply disappointed with any order awarding any portion of fees to the Robbinses’ attorney. The work was not needed for the stated purpose of changing district policies. Immediately upon learning that the laptop tracking system had been used improperly, the district halted the use of the system, launched an independent investigation, quickly revealed the findings and began the process of overhauling technology policies in collaboration with the community and technology experts. The process concluded earlier this month, well in advance of the start of the new school year. The district was also cleared this month by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“We are also disappointed that Judge DuBois gave only fleeting consideration to the detailed arguments made by our counsel and the positions taken by a representative group of community interveners. We believe that the Robbinses’ attorney has protracted this matter, increasing costs to taxpayers. We hope for a speedy resolution to the litigation that limits any further taxpayer expense.”
DuBois said Haltzman deserves to be paid for work that led to a May 14 injunction barring the district from secretly monitoring activity on school-provided laptops.
According to district spokesman Doug Young, the judge did not indicate a specific figure, although Haltzman said the district should pay him about $260,000. DuBois ordered the parties to meet to figure out Haltzman’s pre-May 14 fees and costs, according to Doug Young.
“If the parties cannot agree to a figure, then ... the judge has to decide,” Young stated in an e-mail.
In February Haltzman filed a lawsuit against Lower Merion School District on behalf of Harriton High School student Blake Robbins. The suit claimed school officials used a webcam to spy on him at home. The district has admitted that it could snap webcam photos, take screenshots and record IP addresses in 15-minute increments. Since then another student, Jalil Hasan from Lower Merion High School, has filed suit and is being represented by Haltzman.
Haltzman is seeking over $420,000 that he said his firm has incurred since July. Of that amount, $88,000 is for the work done by John Steinbach, a computer forensic consultant Haltzman hired. The consultant took a cloned copy of one of four computers used by district technology employee Michael Perbix in order to compare the information in the Ballard Spahr report. The results of that review have not been made public.
The judge said in his order that Haltzman can only collect fees and expenses up through the May 14 preliminary injunction against the district. DuBois said Haltzman can submit the balance of his bills at the end of the case.
In a district response to DuBois’ order, Young wrote:
“We are deeply disappointed with any order awarding any portion of fees to the Robbinses’ attorney. The work was not needed for the stated purpose of changing district policies. Immediately upon learning that the laptop tracking system had been used improperly, the district halted the use of the system, launched an independent investigation, quickly revealed the findings and began the process of overhauling technology policies in collaboration with the community and technology experts. The process concluded earlier this month, well in advance of the start of the new school year. The district was also cleared this month by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“We are also disappointed that Judge DuBois gave only fleeting consideration to the detailed arguments made by our counsel and the positions taken by a representative group of community interveners. We believe that the Robbinses’ attorney has protracted this matter, increasing costs to taxpayers. We hope for a speedy resolution to the litigation that limits any further taxpayer expense.”
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