Cases: Civil Rights

  Main Controversy Surrounded Hourly Rates and Reasonableness of Fee Request.      The great thing about blogging is that we actually do get reader participation, and participation by reader attorneys that have won significant fee awards. Here is a recent award to a student under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), a federal fee-shifting […]

  Defendant Did Not Meet Christiansburg Standard for Recovery of Fees.      In the civil rights area, 42 U.S.C. § 1988(b) is by no means an equal fee-shifting provision. It favors winning plaintiffs. Conversely, a winning defendant must prove the plaintiff’s civil rights action was frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation in order to be entitled

  Second District, Division 1 Follows Suit With Division 8—and Relative to the Same Plaintiff.      On July 1, 2010, we examined Mundy v. Neal, where the Second District, Division 8—in an opinion authored by Justice Ashmann-Gerst—denied fees to a plaintiff claiming fees as a “catalyst” under Civil Code section 55. Well, now Division 1

  Lack of Prelitigation Demand for Corrective Action Was Damning.      Here is one for practitioners that either prosecute or defend disability accommodation claims, which frequently revolve around the attorney’s fees that can be recouped by their attorneys. Attorneys did not do so well in this case.      In Mundy v. Neal, Case No. B219711

Fourth District, Division 2 Addresses FEHA Fee Shifting Issues.      An LDS-affiliated plaintiff recovered a jury verdict from an employer based on religious discrimination, but it was unclear that she prevailed under her FEHA claim, although she did recover under Labor Code section 218.5 for unpaid commissions (a claim carrying a statutory fee-shifting clause). Although

Tangible Benefit Was Produced—San Diego Police Department Encouraged to Train Officers to Avoid Excessive Force.      The next decision from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is interesting. Though finding that the district judge got the law right, the majority in the decision still found that there was an abuse of discretion in refusing to

  Conclusion of a Civil Rights Case Ends Well For Plaintiff.      In our October 12, 2008 post, we reported on Deanna Fogarty-Hardwick’s win of substantial damages of almost $5 million against Orange County and other defendants in a civil rights case. She was also awarded attorney’s fees of $1.6 million.      Defendants (primarily Orange