Perdue v. Kenny A. ex rel. Winn
| Decision Date | 14 October 2009 |
| Docket Number | No. 08-970.,08-970. |
| Parties | Sonny PERDUE, Governor of Georgia, et al., Petitioners, v. KENNY A., by his next friend Linda WINN, et al. |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
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Pratik A. Shah, for U.S. as amicus curiae, by special leave of the Court, supporting the Petitioner.
Thurbert E. Baker, Atty. Gen. of Ga, Dennis R. Dunn, Deputy Atty. Gen., Shalen S. Nelson, Sen. Asst., Atty. Gen., Elizabeth M. Williamson, Asst. Atty. Gen., Atlanta, GA, Mark H. Cohen, Troutman Sanders LLP, Atlanta, Georgia, for Petitioners.
Marcia Robinson Lowry, Ira P. Lustbader, New York, NY, Jeffrey O. Bramlett, Michael A. Caplan, Bondurant, Mixson & Elmore, LLP, Atlanta, GA, Paul D. Clement, Adam Conrad, King & Spalding, LLP, Washington, DC, for Respondents.
This case presents the question whether the calculation of an attorney's fee, under federal fee-shifting statutes, based on the "lodestar," i.e., the number of hours worked multiplied by the prevailing hourly rates, may be increased due to superior performance and results.1 We have stated in previous cases that such an increase is permitted in extraordinary circumstances, and we reaffirm that rule. But as we have also said in prior cases, there is a strong presumption that the lodestar is sufficient; factors subsumed in the lodestar calculation cannot be used as a ground for increasing an award above the lodestar; and a party seeking fees has the burden of identifying a factor that the lodestar does not adequately take into account and proving with specificity that an enhanced fee is justified. Because the District Court did not apply these standards, we reverse the decision below and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
I
A
Respondents (plaintiffs below) are children in the Georgia foster-care system and their next friends. They filed this class action on behalf of 3,000 children in foster care and named as defendants the Governor of Georgia and various state officials (petitioners in this case). Claiming that deficiencies in the foster-care system in two counties near Atlanta violated their federal and state constitutional and statutory rights, respondents sought injunctive and...
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