Covington v. District of Columbia
| Decision Date | 12 September 1995 |
| Docket Number | 94-7015,94-7022 and 94-7107,Nos. 94-7014,s. 94-7014 |
| Citation | 313 U.S. App. D.C. 6,57 F.3d 1101 |
| Parties | Darryl COVINGTON; Tracy Dew-Bey; David Edwards; Lee Roy Ferguson; Raymond Gant; Charles Harris; Donald Hunt; Larry Lee; Leo Wright; and Charles Barber, Appellees, v. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA; R. Barnes; James Bryant; P.D. Bullock; L.C. Childs; D.P. Dalton; H. King; Robert Newkirk; M.L. Randle; G.M. Cutler; R. Jackson; R. Nickens; F. Schuler; L.D. Johnson; D.E. Marshall; L. Sesse-Khalid; Rita Goodall; Other Correctional Officers; Other Unknown Present or Former District of Columbia Lorton Correctional Facility Officers, Appellants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit |
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (Civ. No. 87cv02658).
Donna M. Murasky, Asst. Corp. Counsel, Washington, DC, argued the cause, for appellants. With her on the briefs were Vanessa Ruiz, Corp. Counsel at the time of filing of appellant's brief, Charles L. Reischel, Deputy Corp. Counsel, and Erias A. Hyman, Acting Corp. Counsel, Washington, DC. John A. Payton, Washington, DC, entered an appearance.
Roger E. Warin, Washington, DC, argued the cause, for appellees. With him on the joint brief were Mindy A. Kaiden, Michael J. Gaffney, Daniel M. Schember, Vicki Golden, and David Cashdan, Washington, DC.
Before: EDWARDS, Chief Judge, WALD and HENDERSON, Circuit Judges.
This appeal involves consolidated challenges to attorneys' fee awards granted under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1988 (1988 & Supp. V 1993) in favor of prevailing parties (collectively "plaintiffs") in three civil rights cases against the District of Columbia ("District"). In support of the fee claims, the plaintiffs' attorneys submitted to the District Court declarations describing their billing practices--explaining that when they do bill clients, they charge reduced rates for non-economic, public-spirited reasons--as well as information indicative of their skill, experience, and reputation. They also submitted evidence of the prevailing market rates for complex federal litigation in the District of Columbia. The District opposed plaintiffs' fee applications, claiming that plaintiffs' requested rates were substantially higher than rates charged by similarly experienced attorneys who litigate civil rights and employment discrimination cases in the District of Columbia. In support of its position, the District submitted an affidavit of the Assistant Deputy Corporation Counsel, who recounted rates charged by nine plaintiff attorneys and contended that those rates more accurately reflected prevailing market rates. The District Court disagreed.
The District Court found that plaintiffs' attorneys intentionally charged their poorer clients reduced rates for non-economic, public-spirited reasons. The record indicates plaintiff counsels' years of legal experience as well as their ability to handle complicated federal cases. The court found that the relevant market was complex federal litigation and that plaintiffs' requested rates were in line with those prevailing in the District of Columbia for similar services by lawyers of reasonably comparable skill, experience, and reputation. Thus, relying on established law, the District Court granted plaintiffs' motion for reasonable attorneys' fees. Finding no abuse of discretion, we affirm the judgments of the District Court.
In section 1988 attorneys' fee cases, attorneys who customarily charge reduced fees reflecting non-economic, public-spirited goals may seek fees based on the prevailing market rates if the prevailing party demonstrates the reasonableness of the requested hourly rates. That burden entails the following: first, if the attorney customarily charges clients lower rates than plaintiff has requested under section 1988, the attorney must demonstrate that the customarily reduced rates are charged for non-economic reasons; second, the attorney must offer information documenting his or her skill, experience, and reputation; and third, the attorney must produce evidence of the prevailing market rates in the relevant community for attorneys of comparable skill, experience, and reputation. In the instant cases, plaintiffs met this burden, and the District offered little by way of rebuttal. Accordingly, the District Court did not err in finding plaintiffs' requested rates reasonable and granting the motions for attorneys' fee awards. Nor did the District Court err in determining that complex federal litigation was the relevant market for purposes of establishing the prevailing market rates in the District of Columbia. Accordingly, we affirm the District Court's attorneys' fee awards in all three cases.
In these consolidated cases, plaintiffs supported their motions for attorneys' fees by submitting evidence of their attorneys' billing practices, their attorneys' legal experience, skill, and reputation, and the prevailing market rates for complex federal litigation in the District of Columbia. Plaintiffs' motions were granted in all three cases. Although each case involved a different claim--Covington v. District of Columbia, 839 F.Supp. 894 (D.D.C.1993), was a prisoners' rights case; Sexcius v. District of Columbia, 839 F.Supp. 919 (D.D.C.1993), was a First Amendment case; and Galloway v. Superior Court, Civ. Action No. 91-0644, 1994 WL 162410 (D.D.C. Apr. 21, 1994), was a handicap discrimination case--and each was brought by different attorneys, the plaintiffs in each case submitted substantially similar evidence. A detailed review of the evidence presented in Covington will suffice to provide the necessary foundation for our analysis. 1
Attorneys for the plaintiffs in Covington brought a section 1983 action on behalf of ten prison inmates who were beaten while shackled and handcuffed and nine inmates who were sent to a maximum security facility without proper hearings. Covington, 839 F.Supp. at 895. The jury found for the plaintiffs, the District appealed, and then the parties settled while the appeal was pending. Id. The settlement provided that plaintiffs were entitled to an attorneys' fee award; but when the parties could not agree on the appropriate hourly rate, the plaintiffs filed a motion for attorneys' fees.
Plaintiffs' fee application included information pertaining to counsels' billing practices; their experience, skill, and reputation; and the prevailing market rates for complex federal litigation in the District of Columbia. Specifically, the lead attorneys in the case, Michael Gaffney and Daniel Schember, submitted declarations, explaining that they compose a two-attorney firm which handles federal court litigation concerning civil rights and civil liberties, military and veterans law, employment and labor law, and administrative proceedings. According to their declarations, Gaffney and Schember choose clients and cases based on "commitments to the clients and to the constitutional and statutory rights at issue," Declaration of Michael J. Gaffney at 5, Joint Appendix (J.A.) at I-163, and they offer needy clients reduced or below-market rates for these non-economic reasons. 2 The ten inmate plaintiffs in Covington were indigent. As Schember's declaration explains, the lead attorneys took the case "to seek to enforce the constitutional prohibition against punitive beating of prisoners." Declaration of Daniel M. Schember at 6, J.A. at I-155. Gaffney's and Schember's declarations each recount their significant experience since 1975, at the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and since 1977, at their own firm, practicing federal court litigation on a variety of issues. 3 Their declarations also provide indications of their reputations, listing teaching positions 4 and fellowships, 5 awards received, 6 participation in congressionally mandated studies, 7 and chairing the D.C. Bar's Committee on Military and Veterans Rights. 8
Two other attorneys in the Covington case, Linda Delaney and Mark Hager, also submitted declarations regarding their billing practices and experience. Delaney's declaration revealed that when she bills clients, she charges below-market prices for non-economic reasons. 9 Declaration of Linda A. Delaney at 5-6, J.A. at I-189-90. Delaney, who has practiced law since 1984, submitted descriptions of eight federal civil rights or employment cases in which she was involved as well as actions brought in District of Columbia courts. Declaration of Delaney at 2-3, J.A. at I-186-87. Hager, who holds a J.D. and a Ph.D. from Harvard and currently teaches law at American University, stated that he does not have a standard hourly rate for litigation. Declaration of Mark M. Hager at 1, 3, J.A. at I-191, I-193. He practiced law full time for one year at a Boston law firm, doing commercial and criminal defense litigation, and since 1987, when he began teaching full time, he has represented clients in political asylum cases, employment cases, prisoners' rights cases, and has acted as a commercial arbitrator. Declaration of Hager at 1-3, J.A. at I-191-93. In addition, plaintiffs used the services of two law graduates and two law students. Covington, 839 F.Supp. at 900-01.
The Covington plaintiffs submitted a good deal of evidence establishing the prevailing market rates for comparably experienced attorneys handling complex federal litigation. They submitted the original Laffey matrix, a schedule of charges based on years of experience developed in Laffey v. Northwest Airlines, Inc., 572 F.Supp. 354 (D.D.C.1983), rev'd on other grounds, 746 F.2d 4 (D.C.Cir.1984), cert. denied, 472 U.S. 1021, 105 S.Ct. 3488, 87 L.Ed.2d 622 (1985). 10 Plaintiffs also submitted affidavits attesting to increases in the market rates since the original Laffey matrix was...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Cox v. Dist. of Columbia
...skill, experience, and reputation," and (3) "the prevailing market rates in the relevant community." Covington v. District of Columbia , 57 F.3d 1101, 1107 (D.C. Cir. 1995). Because the District argues only that Plaintiffs are incorrect in their assessment of the prevailing rate in the comm......
-
Joaquin v. Friendship Pub. Charter Sch.
...of the relevant community." McAllister , 21 F.Supp.3d at 100 (internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting Covington v. District of Columbia , 57 F.3d 1101, 1107 (D.C.Cir.1995) ). Once the plaintiff has provided that evidence, the Court presumes that the number of hours billed is reasonable, ......
-
Robinson v. Dist. of Columbia, Civil Action No.: 15-444 (RC)
...that this is one of the rare cases where a lodestar enhancement or multiplier is appropriate. See Covington v. District of Columbia , 57 F.3d 1101, 1107 (D.C. Cir. 1995) ; Heller v. District of Columbia , 832 F.Supp.2d 32, 38 (D.D.C. 2011). "The most useful starting point for determining th......
-
Reed v. Dist. of Columbia, Civil Action No. 14–1887 (JEB)
...evidence—in addition to [their] attorney's own affidavits—that [their] requested rates" are appropriate. Covington v. District of Columbia, 57 F.3d 1101, 1107–09 (D.C.Cir.1995). Applicants may "submit attorneys' fee matrices as one type of evidence that provides a useful starting point in c......