IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA IN THE MATTER OF ) FEDERAL PRACTICE FUND ) ACCESSIBILITY TO COURT ) APPOINTED ATTORNEYS )GENERAL ORDER 94- 14 ) The court has determined that in order to avoid great hardship, a portion of the funds now in the Federal Practice Fund should be made available to appointed counsel involved in pending civil rights cases to reimburse some expenses that, because of prior deficits in the Fund, could not be reimbursed or authorized when they were incurred. Therefore, pursuant to the authority of NELR 83.16, IT HEREBY IS ORDERED: 1. This order applies to those cases brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C.  1983 and other civil rights statutes in which counsel have been appointed to represent the plaintiff, which cases were pending on this court's docket, or on appeal, as of February 1, 1994. 2. Appointed counsel in such cases may file, not later than June 24, 1994, an application for reimbursement from the Federal Practice Fund of reasonable and necessary out-of-pocket expenses incurred in providing representation to the plaintiff(s) in such case. Reimbursable expenses may include lodging and meals, mileage, copying, expert witness fees and expenses, depositions, witness and service fees, telephone tolls and postage, and other actual litigation expenses incurred. Such an application may not include any request for attorney fees, the costs of computer- assisted legal research, or travel expenses incurred by law clerks, paralegals, secretaries, investigators, or others. 3. A copy of such application shall be provided to the Chief Judge, the assigned trial judge, and to the Clerk of the Court. The application shall include counsel's description of each expense item, the necessity for it, the efforts taken to keep the expense incurred to a minimum, and any other explanatory information. If disclosure of the application's contents to opposing parties would jeopardize the applicant's position or strategy in the case, leave may be sought to file the application ex parte, under seal. 4. The filing of an application for reimbursement of funds from the Federal Practice Fund constitutes an agreement to repay the Fund up to all of the funds received, if the case is settled with a payment of money to plaintiff, if fees and costs are awarded under 42 U.S.C.  1988 or other applicable statute, or if plaintiff is awarded money damages. DATED May 2nd, 1994 . BY THE COURT: (signed) LYLE E STROM, Chief Judge United States District Court (signed) WILLIAM G. CAMBRIDGE United States District Judge (signed) RICHARD G. KOPF United States District Judge (signed) THOMAS M. SHANAHAN United States District Judge