Reed v. District of Columbia

843 F.3d 517, 2016 WL 7174127, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 21876
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedDecember 9, 2016
Docket15-7119; Consolidated with 16-7009
StatusPublished
Cited by44 cases

This text of 843 F.3d 517 (Reed v. District of Columbia) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Reed v. District of Columbia, 843 F.3d 517, 2016 WL 7174127, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 21876 (D.C. Cir. 2016).

Opinions

Concurring opinion filed by Circuit Judge TATEL.

EDWARDS, Senior Circuit Judge:

The purpose of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”) is “to ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a freé appropriate public education.” 20 U.S.C. § 1400(d)(1)(A). The statute contains a fee-shifting provision that permits parents and legal guardians to recover reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs if they prevail in certain, statutorily prescribed proceedings. See 20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(3)(B). In calculating a fee award, courts take into account both the “number of hours reasonably expended in litigation” and the “reasonable hourly rate” for the services provided, which is determined in part by reference to the prevailing market-rate for attorneys’ services. Eley v. District of Columbia, 793 F.3d 97, 100 (D.C. Cir. 2015) (quoting Save Our Cumberland Mountains, Inc. v. Hodel (SOCM), 857 F.2d 1516, 1517 (D.C. Cir. 1988) (en banc)).

Appellants, parents and legal guardians of children with disabilities who prevailed in IDEA proceedings, filed suit in the District Court seeking reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs related to these proceedings. Appellants also sought an award of “fees-on-fees” for work done in connection with their pursuit of fees for the IDEA proceedings. The District Court granted both requests, but did not award Appellants the full amounts requested.

Appellants contend that the District Court erred in excluding certain hours spent at “settlement conferences” from their fee award. Appellants also assert that the District Court abused its discretion in refusing to find that the “prevailing market rate” for attorneys’ fees in IDEA cases is aligned with the Lajfey Matrix, a fee matrix originally compiled to reflect the prevailing market rate for “complex federal litigation.” See Laffey v. Nw. Airlines, Inc. (Laffey I), 572 F.Supp., 354, 372 (D.D.C. 1983), aff'd in part, rev’d in part on other grounds, Laffey v. Nw. Airlines, Inc. (Laffey II), 746 F.2d 4 (D.C. Cir. 1984), overruled in part on other grounds, SOCM, 857 F.2d 1516.

We agree with Appellants that the District Court should not have excluded certain hours billed as “settlement conferences” from its initial fee award calculation. However, we hold that the Dis[520]*520trict Court did not abuse its discretion in finding that Appellants had failed to demonstrate that their IDEA matters fall within the category of “complex federal litigation” to which the Laffey Matrix applies. Therefore, the District Court was not obliged to follow the Laffey Matrix in calculating attorneys’ fees due Appellants. Appellants also forfeited two claims raised for the first time on appeal: (1) that the affidavits they submitted in this case independently demonstrate a prevailing IDEA market rate that aligns with the Laffey Matrix; and (2) that the rates awarded by the District Court are insufficient to attract competent counsel and, thus, are too low. These claims were not clearly raised with the ' District Court, so we decline to address them ón appeal. Finally, Appellants did not submit any evidence demonstrating that they should receive a different market rate for fees-ón-fees and, therefore, the District Court did not abuse its discretion in applying the same rate when calculating both the initial fee award and subsequent fees-on-fees award.

I. BACKGROUND

A. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

As noted above, the purpose of IDEA is “to ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs.” 20 U.S.C. § 1400(d)(1)(A). IDEA provides a variety of mechanisms for students to receive the assistance they require. This assistance includes an “impartial due process hearing. . .conducted by the State educational agency or by the local educational agency” after a party has filed a complaint, 20 U.S.C. § 1415(f)(1)(A), pertaining to “any matter relating to the identification, evaluation, or educational-placement of [a] child, or the provision of a free appropriate public education to such child,” § 1415(b)(6)(A).. Parents or legal guardians who prevail in such proceedings are permitted to bring suit, in district court to request the award of “reasonable attorneys’ fees” and related costs. 20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(3)(B)(i).

Though fee applicants “bear[ ] the burden of establishing entitlement to an award,” IDEA provides relatively little guidance to either the courts or litigants regarding how, precisely, these “reasonable attorneys’ fees” are to be calculated. Eley, 793 F.3d at 100 (quoting Covington v. District of Columbia, 57 F.3d 1101, 1107 (D.C. Cir. 1995)). The statute notes only that fee awards “shall be based on rates prevailing in the community in which the action or proceeding arose for the kind and' quality of services furnished,” 20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(3)(C), and permits courts to reduce awards of attorneys’ fees if they “unreasonably exceed[] the hourly rate prevailing in the community for 'similar services by attorneys of reasonably comparable skill, reputation, and experience.” 20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(3)(F)(ii). Nonetheless, in interpreting the dictates of IDEA’S fee-shifting provision, this court has typically relied on a two-part framework that takes into account: (1) the “number of hours reasonably expended in litigation”; and (2) the “reasonable hourly rate” for the services provided. See Eley, 793 F.3d at 100 (quoting SOCM, 857 F.2d at 1517). Both parts of this test are at issue in this -case.

To establish an entitlement to a particular fee award, fee applicants must document the hours spent litigating in IDEA proceedings in which they prevailed. See id. (quoting Covington, 57 F.3d at 1107). IDEA, however, imposes a number of limitations on the hours for which pre[521]*521vailing parties can seek recompense. See 20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(3)(D)(i) — (iii). Of particular salience in this case, fee applicants are traditionally barred from recovering fees associated with hours spent in “resolution sessions.” 20 U.S.C. § 1415(f)(1)(B); § 1415(i)(3)(D)(ii)-(iii); see D.D. ex rel. Davis v. District of Columbia, 470 F.Supp.2d 1, 2 (D.D.C. 2007).

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Bluebook (online)
843 F.3d 517, 2016 WL 7174127, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 21876, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/reed-v-district-of-columbia-cadc-2016.