Reynolds v. Coomey, 77-1359

• Decision Date: 05 January 1978
• Docket Number: No. 77-1359,77-1359
• Citation: 567 F.2d 1166
• Parties: 16 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 736, 15 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 8036 Helen H. REYNOLDS, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. Patrick F. COOMEY et al., Defendants, Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

Page 1166

567 F.2d 1166

16 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 736, 15 Empl. Prac.

Dec. P 8036

Helen H. REYNOLDS, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. Patrick F. COOMEY et al., Defendants, Appellees.

No. 77-1359.

United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit.

Argued Dec. 7, 1977.

Decided Jan. 5, 1978.

James C. Gray, Jr., New York City, with whom Jack Greenberg, Charles Stephen Ralston, and Bill L. Lee, New York City, were on brief, for appellant.

William A. Brown, Asst. U. S. Atty., Chief, Civ. Div., Boston, Mass., with whom Edward F. Harrington, U. S. Atty., Boston, Mass., was on brief, for appellees.

Before COFFIN, Chief Judge, ALDRICH and BOWNES, Circuit Judges.

BOWNES, Circuit Judge.

This case involves the award of attorney's fees and costs under 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(k).

In any action or proceeding under this subchapter the court, in its discretion, may allow the prevailing party, other than the Commission or the United States, a reasonable attorney's fee as part of the costs, and the Commission and the United States shall be liable for costs the same as a private person.

Plaintiff, a black female employed by the federal government, brought an individual employment discrimination suit pursuant to the 1972 Amendments to Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-16. The case was settled prior to trial on terms favorable to plaintiff. The district court specifically found "that the plaintiff is a 'prevailing party' within the meaning of the statute." Plaintiff's lead counsel was awarded $2,500 in fees for 102.5 hours of work, but the district court denied other counsel any fees, although there was a claim of 136.2 hours of work. Lead counsel was a private practitioner and other counsel were NAACP Legal Defense Fund staff attorneys. The plaintiff was not awarded any costs, as distinct from attorney's fees.

The appeal focuses on the denial of the district court to award any attorney's fees to other counsel and its failure to award costs to plaintiff. ¹

Although the district court quite properly used Johnson v. Georgia Highway Express, Inc., 488 F.2d 714, 717 (5th Cir. 1974), as a guide in determining the amount of attorney's fees, its opinion was rendered prior to our decision in King v. Greenblatt, 560 F.2d 1024 (1st Cir. 1977). In Greenblatt, we reviewed Johnson and also considered Stanford Daily v. Zurcher,64 F.R.D. 680, 682 (N.D.Cal.1974), aff'd, 550 F.2d 464 (9th Cir.), cert. granted, --- U.S. ----, 98 S.Ct. 52, 54 L.Ed.2d 70 (1977), and Rainey v. Jackson State College, 551 F.2d 672, 677 (5th Cir. 1977), in setting forth the factors to be considered by a district court in determining reasonable attorney's fees in the civil rights field. While our discussion in Greenblatt did not focus on the precise question involved here, we think it made clear that where more than one attorney represents the prevailing party, the contribution of all attorneys must be taken into consideration and the fees awarded should reflect the efforts of all, at least to the extent that the time reported does not reflect duplication of effort or work that would be performed by nonlawyers. King v. Greenblatt, ...