Webb v. Ada County

285 F.3d 829
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit·Decided April 4, 2002·No. No. 00-35338, 00-35787 and 00-35842·Published·Cited by 46 cases

Opinion

ALARCON, Circuit Judge.

Robert Webb and several plaintiffs in this civil rights class action (“Webb”) appeal from the district court’s judgment awarding only a percentage of the post-judgment attorney’s fees Webb requested. Ada County, Idaho (“Ada County”) separately appeals, arguing that the district court should not have awarded any of these attorney’s fees as they were not “directly and reasonably incurred in proving an actual violation” of Webb’s rights, as is required by the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Pub.L. No. 104-134, 110 Stat. 1321 (1996) (“PLRA”). We affirm the district court’s determination that the postjudgment attorney’s fees Webb requested were compensable under the PLRA, because the fees were directly incurred in enforcing court ordered relief instituted to correct violations of Webb’s constitutional rights. We vacate and remand a portion of the district court’s fee award, however, because we find it erred in determining the applicable PLRA hourly rate and abused its discretion in not providing an adequate explanation for its substantial reduction of Webb’s fee requests on three matters.

I

In 1991, Webb brought a class action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging unconstitutional conditions for prisoners in the Ada County Jail. The district court granted Webb partial summary judgment, finding that the jail’s overcrowding was unconstitutional and was a major cause of Webb’s other complaints. Through court orders and a partial consent decree, Webb prevailed on many of his claims. Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988, the court awarded Webb $244,308.00 in attorney’s fees for his attorneys’ work on the merits of the § 1983 action. In an unpublished order, we affirmed the district court’s disposition of the merits of Webb’s claims. Webb v. Ada County, Idaho, 145 F.3d 1343, 1998 WL 246521 (9th Cir.1998) (“Webb I”).

After the district court’s judgment on the merits, Webb’s attorneys performed legal services to enforce the court’s orders and the terms of the consent decree. Webb requested an award of attorney’s fees for this service. The district court found that Webb was partially successful in his postjudgment efforts and awarded him $9,495.00 in attorney’s fees. Webb filed an appeal in which he challenged the amount of the award. Webb v. Ada County, Idaho, 195 F.3d 524, 525(9th Cir.1999) (“Webb II”). In Webb II, we affirmed in part the district' court’s award of post-judgment attorney’s fees but remanded so that the district court could apply the rate cap provisions of the PLRA to the portion of postjudgment attorney’s fees earned after the effective date of the statute. Id. at 528.

On remand, Ada County objected to the award of any post-judgment attorney’s fees, arguing that they were not compen-sable under the PLRA because they were not reasonably and directly incurred in proving an actual violation of Webb’s constitutional rights. In rejecting Ada County’s argument, the district court concluded that the postjudgment fees were related to the enforcement of court-ordered relief for violations of Webb’s constitutional rights. After applying the PLRA, the district court reduced the amount of attorney’s fees to $6,036.25. The district court also awarded Webb an additional $17,290.50 for the services performed by Webb’s attorneys since the first award of attorney’s fees for enforcing and monitoring compli-[834] anee with the judgment on the merits and the entry of the consent decree.

Ada County and Webb filed separate appeals from the district court’s award of postjudgment attorney’s fees. We have consolidated their appeals. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291.

II

Ada County’s Appeal

Ada County argues that the district court erred in awarding attorney’s fees for the services rendered by Webb’s attorneys subsequent to the PLRA’s effective date of April 26,1996.1 We review the district court’s award of attorney’s fees for abuse of discretion. Native Vill. of Venetie Ira Council v. Alaska, 155 F.3d 1150, 1151 (9th Cir.1998). We review a district court’s interpretation of the law de novo. Id. at 1151-52.

The PLRA limits the amount of attorney’s fees that can be awarded for services performed in actions brought on behalf of prisoners. The portion of the PLRA relevant to this appeal provides:

(1) In any action brought by a prisoner who is con fined to any jail, prison, or other correctional facility, in which attorney’s fees are authorized under section 1988 of this title, such fees shall not be awarded, except to the extent that—
(A) the fee was directly and reasonably incurred in proving an actual violation of the plaintiffs rights protected by a statute pursuant to which a fee may be awarded under section 1988 of this title; and
(B)(1) the amount of the fee is proportionately related to the court ordered relief for the violation; or
(ii) the fee was directly and reasonably incurred in enforcing the relief ordered for the violation.

42 U.S.C. § 1997e(d).

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Webb v. Ada County, 285 F.3d 829 (9th Cir. 2002).

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