A judge’s decision to make his staffers inspect a building in an Americans with Disabilities Act suit, and then deny attorneys fees as a result of what was found, has prompted the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to remove him from the case.
The Second Circuit held that Eastern District Judge Sterling Johnson (See Profile) was not entitled to take judicial notice of conditions at a building by conducting his own investigation—without the input and presence of the attorneys— before denying fees to the attorneys as a prevailing party under the act.
