De Jesus Nazario v. Morris Rodriguez

• Decision Date: 30 January 2009
• Docket Number: No. 07-2265.,07-2265.
• Citation: 554 F.3d 196
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit
• Parties: Migdalia DE JESÚS NAZARIO, personally and in representation of the Estate of Decedent Michael Ortiz De Jesús, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. José A. MORRIS RODRÍGUEZ; José Ortiz-Reyes, Defendants, Appellees, Lieutenant Jorge Brenes-Escobar; Sergeant Carlos R. Santos-Ortiz, Defendants.

554 F.3d 196

Migdalia DE JESÚS NAZARIO, personally and in representation of the Estate of Decedent Michael Ortiz De Jesús, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. José A. MORRIS RODRÍGUEZ; José Ortiz-Reyes, Defendants, Appellees Lieutenant Jorge Brenes-Escobar; Sergeant Carlos R. Santos-Ortiz, Defendants.

No. 07-2265.

United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit.

Heard October 28, 2008.

Decided January 30, 2009.

Mauricio Hernandez Arroyo for appellant.

Irene S. Soroeta-Kodesh, Assistant Solicitor General, Department of Justice, with whom Maite D. Oronoz-Rodríguez, Acting Solicitor General, was on brief for appellee.

Before Lipez, and Howard, Circuit Judges and DiClerico, Jr.,^* District Judge.

HOWARD, Circuit Judge.

In this appeal, we review a denial of an award of attorney's fees and costs under the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Award Act of 1976 (Fees Act), 42 U.S.C. § 1988. The district court apparently concluded that a jury award of punitive damages unaccompanied by actual or nominal damages in favor of plaintiff-appellant Migdalia De Jesus Nazario (De Jesus Nazario) was insufficient to confer on her the requisite prevailing party status under the Fees Act, and consequently, it declined to award any fees. Because we conclude that, in the circumstances of this case, the court's determination was in error, we vacate the order denying attorney's fees and remand the case for calculation of an appropriate award of attorney's fees and costs.

I. Background

On behalf of herself and as a representative of the estate of her deceased son, Michael Ortiz De Jesus, De Jesus Nazario brought an action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1988, as well as under Puerto Rico Law, alleging that police officers Jos A. Morris Rodriguez (Rodriguez) and Jos Ortiz-Reyes (Ortiz-Reyes) violated the decedent's constitutional right to be free from excessive force.¹ Specifically, she alleged that the defendants' discharge of seventeen rounds from their government-issued firearms after Michael was already lying on the ground constituted excessive force. The complaint sought actual and compensatory damages "in an amount no less [than] $500,000," and punitive damages "in an amount no less than $300,000."

After trial, a jury returned a verdict in favor of the decedent's estate under § 1983 and Puerto Rico law. But there was a twist: the jury awarded no actual or nominal damages on the § 1983 claim, yet found Rodriguez liable for $25,000 in punitive damages and Ortiz-Reyes liable for $15,000 in punitive damages.² Although the plaintiff made no motion for additur of nominal damages, the defendants did not move to set aside the punitive damages award on the ground that such damages may be awarded only when there are actual or nominal damages. Neither party appealed, and the punitive damages judgment became final.

Eventually, De Jesus Nazario moved, pursuant to the Fees Act, for an award of attorney's fees and costs totaling approximately $75,000. She argued that the punitive damages award gave her status as a "prevailing party" under the Fees Act, and therefore that she is entitled to fees and costs. The defendants resisted on the ground that the jury's failure to award nominal or compensatory damages—and the plaintiff's failure to request such damages immediately after the jury returned its verdict—rendered the punitive damages impermissible. Accordingly, they argued that an award of attorney's fees would only compound the legal error.

In light of the plaintiff's failure to move for additur following the verdict, the trial court considered itself bound by our holding in Kerr-Selgas v. American Airlines, 69 F.3d 1205, 1214-15 (1st Cir.1995), in which we held that in a suit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., a punitive damages award is sustainable only if it is accompanied by an award of actual or nominal damages. Nazario v. Rodriguez, No. 04-CV-1952, 2007 WL 1760644, *1 (D.P.R. June 18, 2007). Although the court determined that it would enforce the punitive damages award, it nevertheless concluded that awarding attorney's fees would constitute a "windfall" in light of its understanding of Kerr-Selgas. On that basis, the court declined to award attorney's fees, even though the defendants had not objected to the punitive damages. Id. This appeal of the denial of attorney's fees timely followed the trial court's ruling.

II. Legal Standards

We normally review an award of attorney's fees for abuse of discretion. Torres-Rivera v. O'Neill-Cancel, 524 F.3d 331, 335 (1st Cir.2008) (citing Coutin v. Young & Rubicam P.R., Inc., 124 F.3d 331, 336 (1st Cir.1997)). A district court abuses its discretion if it fails to consider a significant factor in its decisional calculus, if it relies on an improper factor in computing that calculus, or if it considers all of the appropriate factors but makes a serious mistake in weighing such factors. Coutin, 124 F.3d at 336. Under this rubric, "an error of law is always tantamount to an abuse of discretion." Torres-Rivera, 524 F.3d at 336 (citing Rosario-Urdaz v. Rivera-Hernandez, 350 F.3d 219, 221 (1st Cir.2003)).

We begin with a brief review of the legal landscape. In civil rights cases, courts often used their equitable powers to award attorney's fees until the Supreme Court held that under the "American Rule," each party must ordinarily bear his own attorney's fees unless there is express statutory authority to the contrary. Alyeska Pipeline Serv. Co. v. Wilderness Soc'y, 421 U.S. 240, 95 S.Ct. 1612, 44 L.Ed.2d 141 (1975). Congress responded by enacting the Fees Act to "ensure effective access to the judicial process for persons with civil rights grievances." Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 429, 103 S.Ct. 1933, 76 L.Ed.2d 40 (1983) (internal quotation omitted). Consequently, "the court, in its discretion, may allow the prevailing party ... a reasonable attorney's fee as part of the costs." 42 U.S.C. § 1988(b). The Supreme Court has clarified that "a prevailing plaintiff should ordinarily recover an attorney's fee unless special circumstances would render such an award unjust."³ Hensley, 461 U.S. at 429, 103 S.Ct. 1933. "[P]laintiffs may be considered prevailing parties for attorney's fees purposes if they succeed on any significant issue in litigation which achieves some of the benefit the parties sought in bringing suit." Hensley, 461 U.S. at 433, 103 S.Ct. 1933 (quoting Nadeau v. Helgemoe, 581 F.2d 275, 278-79 (1st Cir.1978)) (internal quotation marks omitted). Put another way, a plaintiff is a prevailing party when the "actual relief on the merits of his claim materially alters the legal relationship between the parties by modifying defendant's behavior." Farrar v. Hobby, 506 U.S. 103, 111-12, 113 S.Ct. 566, 121 L.Ed.2d 494 (1992); see also Sole v Wyner, 551 U.S. 74, 127 S.Ct. 2188, 2194, 167 L.Ed.2d 1069 (2007) ("The touchstone of the prevailing party inquiry ... is the material alteration of the legal relationship of the parties in a manner which Congress sought to promote in the fee statute.") (quoting Tex. State Teachers Ass'n v. Garland Indep. Sch. Dist., 489 U.S. 782, 792-93, 109 S.Ct. 1486, 103 L.Ed.2d 866 (1989)). In Farrar, the Court explicitly held that an award for nominal damages serves to alter the legal relationship between the parties such that the plaintiff must be considered a prevailing party. 506 U.S. at 112, 113 S.Ct. 566 ("We therefore hold that a plaintiff who wins nominal damages is a prevailing party under § 1988.").⁴

Even if a plaintiff achieves prevailing party status, special circumstances might still render the award of attorney's fees and costs unjust. These special circumstances, however, are narrowly circumscribed. As the Supreme Court has explained, the rationale for confining "special circumstances" to a tight encincture "is that Congress meant to encourage [civil rights] lawsuits because of their public purpose." United States v. Cofield, 215 F.3d 164, 170 (1st Cir.2000) (citing Newman v. Piggie Park Enters., 390 U.S. 400, 401-03, 88 S.Ct. 964, 19 L.Ed.2d 1263 (1968)). Indeed, we have consistently held that despite the permissive phrasing of the Fees Act, "[fee] awards in favor of prevailing civil rights plaintiffs are virtually obligatory." Poy v. Boutselis, 352 F.3d 479, 487 (1st Cir.2003) (quoting Gay Officers Action League v. Puerto Rico, 247 F.3d 288, 293 (1st Cir.2001)). Thus, "the burden is on the defendant to show that unusual conditions would make an award unjust or inappropriate." Cofield, 215 F.3d at 171 (citing Herrington v. County of Sonoma, 883 F.2d 739, 744 (9th Cir.1989)). Moreover, where a trial court determines that such "special circumstances" exist, it must support such a decision with particularized "findings of fact and conclusions of law identifying the special circumstances and explaining why an award would be inappropriate." Poy, 352 F.3d at 488 (quoting de Jesus v. Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, 918 F.2d 232, 234 (1st Cir.1990)).

We have had occasion to elaborate on the sorts of "special circumstances" that would permit the outright denial of a fee award, and they are few and far between. We have found that "outrageous" or "inexcusable" conduct on the part of the plaintiff or its counsel during litigation of the case can sometimes constitute "special circumstances" warranting denial of attorney's fees. Williams v. Hanover Hous. Auth., 113 F.3d 1294, 1301 (1st Cir.1997) (citing Lewis v. Kendrick, 944 F.2d 949, 956 (1st Cir.1991)).⁵ We have similarly suggested other "bad faith or obdurate conduct" might also constitute special circumstances warranting denial of attorney's fees. Stefan v. Laurenitis, 889 F.2d 363, 371 (1st Cir.1989). In addition, we have suggested that an "unjust hardship that a grant or denial of fee shifting might impose" could also constitute an acceptable reason to deny an award of attorney's fees. Id.

Nevertheless, few such special circumstances satisfy these stringent criteria. We...