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Catherine Hutchinson, By Her Guardian, Sandy Julien, Et v. Deval L. Patrick, In His Official Capacity As

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Before Lynch, Chief Judge, Selya and Howard, Circuit Judges.

This appeal requires us to consider the circumstances under which a litigant who obtains significant relief through a court-approved settlement, rather than a verdict or a formal consent decree, may achieve “prevailing party” status and, thus, become eligible for an award of attorneys’ fees under a typical federal fee-shifting statute. The appeal also requires us to consider when, short of the entry of a final judgment, “prevailing party” status may attach.

These questions (and the other questions before us) arise in the following setting. After the parties reached a negotiated settlement resolving the substance of a complicated class action, the district court awarded the plaintiffs attorneys’ fees and expenses totaling over three-quarters of a million dollars. The defendants appeal, asseverating that the district court improperly characterized the plaintiffs as prevailing parties; acted prematurely in arriving at that conclusion; and to add insult to injury, set the amount of the award too generously. We conclude that the district court appropriately characterized the plaintiffs as prevailing parties, that the relief obtained was sufficiently final to justify a fee award, and that the court acted within the purview of its discretion in fixing the amount. Consequently, we affirm.

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