The last Public Interest Law column (Nov. 29, 2011) discussed the right of prevailing defendants to recover attorney fees under federal civil rights fee shifting statutes. We now shift gears and focus on recent decisions by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit concerning recovery of statutory attorney fees by prevailing civil rights plaintiffs. These decisions deal with (1) the “prevailing party” requirement; (2) computation of a “reasonable attorney’s fee” under the lodestar adjustment method; (3) the requirement that the fee applicant submit contemporaneous time records; and (4) fee awards in prisoners’ rights cases.
Prevailing Party
Numerous federal civil rights fee shifting statutes authorize the courts to award a “reasonable attorney’s fee” to the “prevailing party.” For example, 42 U.S.C. §1988 (b), which authorizes fee awards in actions brought under, inter alia, 42 U.S.C. §1983, provides that “the court, in its discretion, may allow the prevailing party…a reasonable attorney’s fee as part of the costs.”
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