Without question, one of the topics civil rights lawyers like to discuss (and argue over) most is the issue of attorney fees. After all, getting paid for the work we do is typically the icing on the cake to celebrate a victory for our clients. As the U.S. Supreme Court articulated in one of the earliest cases construing Title VII, Newman v. Piggie Park Enterprises, 390 U.S. 400 (1968), plaintiffs who bring actions for violation of the public accommodations provisions are “vindicating a policy that Congress considered of the highest priority” by acting as “private attorneys general.” Eventually, Congress codified the private attorneys general principle into law with the enactment of the Civil Rights Attorney’s Fees Awards Act of 1976, 42 U.S.C. § 1988.
In a recently litigated case, U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler of the District of New Jersey was confronted with an attorney fee petition in a case under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and offered insight into the criteria for awarding fees, including how the requested hourly rate should be evaluated. The case is Lasky v. Moorestown Township, D.N.J., Civ. A. 09-05624 (Mar. 22, 2013). The facts of the case, as recited by the court, indicate that plaintiff Gregory Lasky instituted an action against Moorestown Township, N.J., in state court alleging that the township failed to provide proper access to its public library, town hall, sidewalks and streets to Lasky, who is a paraplegic. The matter was removed to federal court and, according to the court, after months of litigation and on the eve of trial, the parties reached a settlement. The settlement was memorialized with a consent order signed by the court. The court addressed the background of the case and calculated the award for attorney fees and costs in a March 22 opinion.
