IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

No. 10-40036

SYLVESTER MCCLAIN, on his own behalf and on behalf of a class of similarly

situated persons; BUFORD THOMAS, on his own behalf and on behalf of a class

of similarly situated persons; PATRICK ROSS, on his own behalf and on behalf

of a class of similarly situated persons; MARY THOMAS, on her own behalf and

on behalf of a class of similarly situated persons; EDDIE K MASK, on his own

behalf and on behalf of a class of similarly situated persons; LEROY GARNER,

on his own behalf and on behalf of a class of similarly situated persons; SHERRY

CALLOWAY SWINT, on her own behalf and on behalf of a class of similarly

situated persons; WALTER BUTLER, on his own behalf and on behalf of a class

of similarly situated persons also known as "A"; FLORINE THOMPSON, on her

own behalf and on behalf of a class of similarly situated persons; CLARENCE

OWENS, on his own behalf and on behalf of a class of similarly situated persons

also known as "C"; CLIFFORD R DUIRDEN, on his own behalf and on behalf of

a class of similarly situated persons; EARL POTTS, on his own behalf and on

behalf of a class of similary situated persons; ROALD MARK, on his own behalf

and on behalf of a class of similary situated persons; PLAINTIFF CLASS; ALL

PLAINTIFFS,

Plaintiffs - Appellants Cross-Appellees

v.

LUFKIN INDUSTRIES INC., 

Defendant - Appellee Cross-Appellant

Appeals from the United States District Court

 for the Eastern District of Texas

Before JONES, Chief Judge, and DENNIS and CLEMENT, Circuit Judges.

EDITH H. JONES, Chief Judge:

United States Court of Appeals

Fifth Circuit

F I L E D

August 8, 2011

Lyle W. Cayce

Clerk

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After multiple appeals to this court and extensive trial and other 1

proceedings, plaintiffs’ Title VII class action for employment discrimination

against Lufkin Industries, Inc. culminated in a favorable multimillion dollar

judgment and injunctive relief. Before this court – in the final possible dispute

– are challenges by both parties to the district court’s attorneys’ fee award and

Lufkin’s complaint that back pay damages were erroneously authorized in an

earlier appeal. We affirm as to the back pay damages but vacate and remand as

to the attorney’s fees. In particular, given the unrebutted evidence in the record

that it was necessary for plaintiffs to retain counsel from outside the Eastern

District of Texas, the district court abused its discretion in failing to use the

rates counsel charged in their home district as the starting point in the lodestar

calculation. 

I. BACKGROUND

In early 1995, Sylvester McClain, a black employee in Lufkin’s trailer

division, filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

(EEOC) over his manager’s alleged efforts to demote him. Another Lufkin

employee, Buford Thomas, filed an EEOC claim in February 1997, complaining

that he was denied promotional and training opportunities on account of his

race. The EEOC issued right-to-sue letters on both claims. In 1997, McClain

and Thomas filed a class action under Title VII challenging many of Lufkin’s

employment practices under disparate treatment and disparate impact theories. 

The district court certified a class and narrowed the claims in ways not relevant

See McClain v. Lufkin Industries, Inc., 108 Fed. App’x. 176 (5th Cir. 2004) 1

(“McClain I”); McClain v. Lufkin Industries, Inc., 519 F.3d 264, (5th Cir. 2008) (“McClain II”);

McClain v. Lufkin Industries, Inc., 342 F. App’x. 974 (5th Cir. 2009) (“McClain III”). 

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to the issues before this court. See McClain v. Lufkin Indus., Inc., 187 F.R.D.

267 (E.D. Tex. 1999).

From the start, Plaintiffs were represented by Timothy Garrigan, an

attorney based in the Eastern District of Texas with extensive experience in

employment law and civil rights. The court complimented his firm in the

certification order:

Counsel for the Plaintiffs are known to this court as trial lawyers

experienced in employment law, civil rights actions, and complex

litigation. Counsel have documented their qualifications through

documents submitted to the court recounting the breadth of their

experience in these areas of the law. Finally, class counsel have

pursued this suit and related issues with an unmistakable zeal.

Id. at 281-82. Garrigan headed a three-lawyer firm in Nacogdoches, Texas. 

After obtaining class certification in 2000, Garrigan found that Lufkin was

unwilling to settle, and that his clients might face protracted litigation. Thus,

Garrigan felt it was imperative to associate with co-counsel in order to

successfully try this case. The case’s ultimate trajectory, which spanned a

decade and involved thousands of attorney hours, confirmed his initial

impression.

Garrigan consulted with many experienced employment lawyers in Texas

and found that “none of them was willing or able to commit the time and

resources necessary to associate as co-counsel and prosecute this class

action . . . .” The record includes numerous affidavits from experienced Texas

litigators and even the founder and past president of the Texas Employment

Lawyers Association declaring, under oath, that no Texas attorneys were

available to join Garrigan’s team on this particular case. It is clearly established

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that Garrigan diligently searched for, but could not find, any lawyers in Texas

who were willing and able to join him in litigating this class action.2

Significantly, Lufkin submitted nothing to refute or challenge this

evidence. Lufkin submitted the declarations of five Texas lawyers regarding

their hourly rates, but none of those declarants claimed that they, or anyone else

For instance, J. Derek Braziel, an experienced Texas litigator in labor and 2

employment law, explained: “I do not work on employment discrimination class action cases

for largely financial reasons, even though I am competent and have the resources to do so. . . .

Employment discrimination class actions usually take much longer to litigate than the average

employment discrimination or wage and hour case. Defendant companies often use their

substantial financial advantage to outstaff and outwork plaintiffs with limited personal

resources. . . . Employment discrimination class actions usually involve extensive expert

testimony and the commitment of financial resources that far exceeds other employment law

cases. . . . [There is] a significant risk that a fee will never be collected. Even in the best of

circumstances, payment for class counsel’s time and reimbursement of expenses is delayed for

several years. For these reasons neither I, nor my firm, represent plaintiffs in employment

discrimination class actions.”

Claude Welch, an attorney in Lufkin, Texas with experience in complex civil litigation,

declared: “There is a need for lawyers in the Eastern District of Texas who are capable of and

willing to represent clients in complex employment discrimination class action and other

complex civil rights cases. I do not generally undertake such cases because of their difficulty,

their complexity, and because the uncertainty of success has generally outweighed the

prospect of obtaining a contingent statutory fee.”

Steven B. Thorpe, an experienced litigator in Dallas, declared: “My practice focuses in

large part on employment civil rights cases in which I represent plaintiffs. . . . [T]he greatest

portion of my practice prior to approximately 1985 was in the representation of plaintiffs in

class action discrimination suits. At that time I and the firm with which I was associated

largely abandoned that area of practice because we found it to be financially infeasible. At this

time and for more than a decade I have done no class action employment litigation. . . . I do

not know of any other experienced plaintiffs’ class action employment lawyers in Texas who

were available, able and willing to commit the time and expenses necessary to the prosecution

of this case.”

Margaret A. Harris, the founder and past president of the Texas Employment Lawyers

Association, declared: “While there are certainly lawyers in this State with the requisite

knowledge to do the work that the lawyers from Goldstein Demchak provided, they do not to

the best of my knowledge have the resources to have provided those services. Similarly, while

there are law firms in this State who have the financial resources to have stepped in as Class

Co-Counsel, they do not to the best of my knowledge have the requisite knowledge of the law

to have done the work that the lawyers and other staff members from Goldstein Demchak

provided.”

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they knew, would have been willing and able to get involved in this case in 2000. 

It is therefore uncontested that Garrigan was not able to obtain support from

Texas co-counsel.

Unable to find suitable co-counsel in Texas, Garrigan turned to the firm

now known as Goldstein, Demchak, Baller, Borgen & Dardarian (“Goldstein

Demchak”), based in Oakland, California. Goldstein Demchak, which has a

nationwide reputation as a plaintiffs’ employment class action firm, agreed to

associate with Garrigan and take part in this case. 

Ultimately, the case went to a bench trial, and in January 2005, the

district court found that Lufkin had discriminated against black employees in

certain initial work assignments and in promotion decisions. The court ordered

back pay, attorneys’ fees, and injunctive relief. This court affirmed the disparate

impact promotion claims after concluding that Thomas had properly exhausted

his administrative remedies when he filed his 1997 EEOC complaint, McClain

II, 519 F.3d at 264, but we reversed the judgment as to the initial assignment

claims because plaintiffs had not exhausted their administrative remedies. This

court directed the district court to award back pay damages for the lost

promotions dating back to 1994. Id. at 281. We also vacated and remanded the

trial court’s injunctive order, which was too vague, and its attorneys’ fee award,

which was insufficiently explained. Id. at 283-84.

On remand, the new district judge, who stepped in to replace the deceased

trial judge, scrupulously followed the mandate of McClain II. Pertinent to this 3

appeal, he awarded $3.3 million in back pay to the class for discriminatorily lost

promotions dating back to 1994. He issued a twenty-four page ruling addressing

plaintiff counsel’s application to receive over $7.7 million in attorneys fees. (The

 The court’s detailed injunction against Lufkin was not appealed.

3

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award exceeding $1 million for counsel’s costs and expenses has not been

appealed.) After sifting through voluminous billing records, the court ruled for

plaintiffs’ counsel on nearly all issues, and, in particular, declined to reduce their

fees beyond a self-adjustment offered by counselfor having pursued unsuccessful

Title VII claims. The court ordered a generous $400 hourly rate for Garrigan,

the lead attorney. It refused, however, to order payment to partners at

Goldstein Demchak at a $650 hourly rate, the prevailing rate in the San

Francisco Bay Area. The court’s discussion is concise:

2. Partners at the Goldstein Demchak Law Firm

Plaintiffs contend that the court should disregard the local rates for

the Goldstein Demchak Law Firm (“Demchak Firm”) and apply a

rate commensurate with attorneys from the northern California

area where the Demchak Firm is located because of its unique

experience dealing with employment discrimination class action

cases.

When the Demchak Firm entered the case in 2000, Mr. Garrigan

had already certified the case andLufkin’s appeal had been rejected. 

While it was still necessary to mediate the case, complete discovery,

and try the case, Mr. Garrigan participated to a greater extent than

any other attorney. He certified the class, was lead counsel

throughout the entirety of the case, and examined 11 out of 22

witnesses at trial. The Demchak Firm possessed experience settling

class action employment cases, but there is no evidence to suggest

that they were experienced at trying such cases.

Plaintiffs have firmly established that in calculating the fee for

Mr. Garrigan the appropriate community for rate comparison

purposes are [sic] those who participate in complex litigation in the

Eastern District of Texas. It would be difficult to justify assigning

a higher hourly rate to second-chair attorneys, no matter how

skilled in employment law. No unusual circumstances exist to

suggest that those in the Eastern District who have experience with

complex litigation were unavailable and could not have effectively

participated. The court is aware of many attorneys in the Eastern

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District experienced in employment law and complex litigation. 

Two who would not be likely to have a conflict with Lufkin

Industries are Clyde Siebman and John Werner. Absent sufficient

evidence that experienced, qualified local counsel were unwilling to

participate, the court will not assume counsel from distant states

were necessary. Counsel at the Demchak Firm are located in

Oakland, California, but it was their choice to participate on this

case. Mr. Garrigan brought the suit, certified the class and carried

the yeoman’s burden at depositions and trial. Based on the

affidavits, Mr. Garrigan was the attorney with extensive experience

as first chair in actual trials. The Demchak Firm’s attorneys

undoubtedly provided valuable support but they cannot expect to

receive rates fifty percent higher than Mr. Garrigan’s, especially

when the court has approved the time they spent in traveling from

California.

Hourly rates should be computed according to the prevailing market

rates in the relevant legal market. [citation omitted] This court

will apply local rates for the Demchak firm. [citation omitted] . . .

However, the rates should not be less than $250/hr, as Defendant

contends. . . .

The court awarded $400 per hour to partners at Goldstein Demchak, with

comparably reduced awards for their associates and paralegals. The final total

fee award was approximately $4.7 million.

On appeal, the parties aggressively dispute: (1) the award of local district

rates to the Goldstein Demchak firm; (2) the court’s refusal to disallow more of

counsel’s hours allegedly incurred for unsuccessful claims; and (3) the

calculation of the back pay award. Jurisdiction here is founded on 28 U.S.C.

§ 1291.

II. ATTORNEYS’ FEE AWARD

The district court’s factual findings as to the hours reasonably expended

and the reasonable rates for attorneys’ fees are reviewed by this court for clear

error. La. Power & Light Co. v. Kellstrom, 50 F.3d 319, 324 (5th Cir. 1995). 

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When the court applies to this “lodestar” the twelve Johnson adjustment

factors, its decision — absent an error of law — is reviewed for abuse of 4

discretion. Id. at 329. 

A. Community versus out-of-district hourly rates

Asserting that California counsel were entitled to be reimbursed at

California rates rather than the rate awarded to counsel in the forum, plaintiffs

first contend that the district court erred because no other local counsel were

willing to assist Garrigan in this complex class action. They also contend that

a recent Supreme Court decision supports an award to plaintiffs’ counsel that

matches the rates allegedly paid by Lufkin to its Houston attorneys. See Perdue

v. Kenny A. ex rel. Winn, 130 S. Ct. 1662 (2010). Lufkin, for its part, seeks an

even larger reduction in the fee award for work performed by plaintiffs’ counsel

on unsuccessful claims in the litigation. We are constrained to vacate the fee

award and remand for re-calculation.

The precedents and purposes governing fee-shifting awards in civil rights

cases are well established. The awards facilitate plaintiffs’ access to the courts

to vindicate their rights by providing compensation sufficient to attract

competent counsel. Fee awards must, however, be reasonable. Hensley v.

Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 433, 103 S. Ct. 1933, 1939 (1983). The linchpin of the

reasonable fee is the lodestar calculation, a product of the hours reasonably

expended by the law firms and the reasonable hourly rate for their services. Id.

Charges for excessive, duplicative, or inadequately documented work must be

excluded. Watkins v. Fordice, 7 F.3d 453, 457 (5th Cir. 1993).

Seminal to this case is the principle that “reasonable” hourly rates “are to

be calculated according to the prevailing market rates in the relevant

 See Johnson v. Georgia Highway Express, Inc., 488 F.2d 714 (5th Cir. 1974). 4

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community.” Blum v. Stenson, 465 U.S. 886, 895, 104 S. Ct. 1541, 1547 (1984). 

Further, Blum noted, “the burden is on the applicant to produce satisfactory

evidence . . . that the requested rates are in line with those prevailing in the

community for similar services by lawyers of reasonably comparable skill,

experience and reputation.” Id. at 896 n.11. In an unbroken and consistent line

of precedent, this court has interpreted rates “prevailing in the community” to

mean what it says. Thus, as early as 1974, this court required district courts to

consider the customary fee for similar work “in the community.” Johnson,

488 F.2d at 718; see also Van Ooteghem v. Gray, 774 F.2d 1332, 1338 (5th Cir.

1985) (Title VII guarantees “fair compensation” and not whatever “lions at the

bar” may command); Alberti v. Klevenhagen, 896 F.2d 927, 931 (5th Cir. 1990)

vacated in part on reh’g, 903 F.2d 352 (1990); Islamic Ctr of Miss., Inc. v. City of

Starkville, Miss., 876 F.2d 465, 469 (5th Cir. 1989); Watkins, 7 F.3d at 458-59;

Green v. Adm’rs of Tulane Educ. Fund, 284 F.3d 642, 662 (5th Cir. 2002); Tollett

v. City of Kemah, 285 F.3d 357, 368 (5th Cir. 2002); Scham v. District Courts

Trying Criminal Cases, 148 F.3d 554, 558 (5th Cir. 1998). Most telling, perhaps,

is this court’s decision in a landmark affirmative action case reducing the fee of

plaintiffs’ counsel, a former U.S. Assistant Attorney General and subsequent

U.S. Solicitor General, from the rates he charged in Washington, D.C., to the

prevailing rate in the forum, Austin, Texas. Hopwood v. State of Texas, 236 F.3d

256, 281 (5th Cir. 2000) (discussing Ted Olson’s billing rates).

A number of our sister circuits, however, have taken the position that outof-district counsel may be entitled to the rates they charge in their home

districts under certain limited circumstances. The Sixth Circuit has observed

that “[w]hen fees are sought for an out-of-town specialist, courts must determine

(1) whether hiring the out-of-town specialist was reasonable in the first instance,

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and (2) whether the rates sought by the out-of-town specialist are reasonable for

an attorney of his or her degree of skill, experience, and reputation.” Hadix v.

Johnson, 65 F.3d 532, 535 (6th Cir. 1995) (citing Chrapliwy v. Uniroyal, Inc.,

670 F.2d 760, 768-69 (7th Cir. 1982)). Other circuits have used a similar

approach. See Zolfo, Cooper & Co. v. Sunbeam-Oster Co., 50 F.3d 253, 259-60

(3d Cir. 1995); Casey v. City of Cabool, Mo., 12 F.3d 799, 805 (8th Cir. 1993);

Nat’l Wildlife Fed’n v. Hanson, 859 F.2d 313, 317 (4th Cir. 1988); Maceira v.

Pagan, 698 F.2d 38, 40 (1st Cir. 1983); Donnell v. United States, 682 F.2d 240,

252 (D.C. Cir. 1982). 

But the two-prong Hadix test is applied cautiously: even courts that

concluded out-of-district counsel were necessary often affirmed reduced fees for

those attorneys. See Casey, 12 F.3d at 806 (approving a rate reduction for out-ofdistrict counsel from $195 per hour to $150 per hour); Zolfo, 50 F.3d at 259-61

(noting that under 11 U.S.C. § 330, the starting point for a fee calculation should

be the attorneys’ home district, but nevertheless affirming the district court’s use

of in-district rates as the starting point because it “achieved substantially the

same result”). Indeed, these circuits have stressed that appellate courts should

be particularly reluctant to find an abuse of discretion. See, e.g., Nat’l Wildlife,

859 F.2d at 317 (“The computation of attorneys fees is primarily the task of the

district court, and we are not entitled to disturb a district court's exercise of

discretion even though we might have exercised that discretion quite

differently.”); Zolfo, 50 F.3d at 261 (“The bankruptcy court cut Zolfo Cooper’s

total compensation request approximately twelve percent. When faced with a

reduction of ten percent in a similar case, we stated that ‘[n]o court, viewing a

record of this magnitude from the distance inherent in appellate review, could

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assess the reasonability of a reduction as slight as ten percent with flawless

precision.’” (citation omitted)).

To fulfill the purpose of Section 1988 fee awards, while accommodating

Blum’s and this court’s focus on local forum rates for attorney fees, we hold that

where, as here, abundant and uncontradicted evidence proved the necessity of

Garrigan’s turning to out-of-district counsel,the co-counsel’s “home” rates should

be considered as a starting point for calculating the lodestar amount. Because

local rates may well reflect a lower cost of living in the forum, which will also be

indicative of lower potential damage awards, the district court retains discretion

to adjust the lodestar and achieve an overall reasonable fee award.5

Here, the district court carefully reviewed the hours billed by all counsel

and assessed counsel’s rates. In doing so, it adjusted the local prevailing rate

upward to award the principal trial counsel, Mr. Garrigan, a local attorney, $400

per hour. The court, however, adjusted the claimed hourly rates of the Goldstein

Demchak attorneys downward from those prevailing in their hometown

California market ($650 per hour for partners and proportionately lower for

associates and paralegals) to those prevailing in the Eastern District of Texas. 

The court reasoned that: (1) it had not been shown that attorneys from outside

the Eastern District of Texas were necessary to the representation of the

plaintiff class; (2) the Fifth Circuit requires compensation at locally prevalent

rates rather than the rates charged in one of the highest priced legal markets in

the United States; (3) the Goldstein Demchak attorneys performed second-chair

trial duties, which did not entitle them to be paid at rates fifty percent higher

than those of Garrigan. 

Our decision in Hopwood, supra, is not inconsistent with this holding. Hopwood 5

affirmed the district court’s finding that higher-priced out-of-district counsel were not

essential to prosecuting the appeal for which compensation was sought.

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Unfortunately, the district court clearly erred in finding that local counsel

were readily available to assist Garrigan, and it legally erred in suggesting that

local community rates are always required when out-of-district counsel are

employed. These errors require us to reverse and remand the award to the

Goldstein Demchak lawyers for further consideration. Some further elaboration

is useful.

First, as was discussed above, the record is replete with affidavits from a

variety of expert employment lawyers who swore that no Texas attorneys were

willing and able to assist in such a large case that might drag on for years

without any guarantee of financial remuneration. Lufkin provided no rebuttal

evidence. The district court explained only that it was “aware” of many

attorneys in the Eastern District experienced in employment law and complex

litigation, and it named two attorneys, neither of whom is otherwise mentioned

in the evidence. Yet, “[t]he hourly fee awarded must be supported by the record;

the district court may not simply rely on its own experience in the relevant legal

market to set a reasonable hourly billing rate.” League of United Latin Am.

Citizens v. Roscoe I.S.D., 119 F.3d 1228, 1234 (5th Cir. 1997). The district court

clearly erred in finding contrary to the record that local attorneys were available

to assist in the representation.

Second, we here clarify our adherence to the common view of circuit courts

that in the unusual cases where out-of-district counsel are proven to be

necessary to secure adequate representation for a civil rights plaintiff, the rates

charged by that firm are the starting point for the lodestar calculation. See

generally Hadix, 65 F.3d at 535; Zolfo, Cooper & Co., 50 F.3d at 259-61; Casey,

12 F.3d at 805-06; Nat’l Wildlife Fed’n, 859 F.2d at 317; Maceira, 698 at 40. This

court’s focus on local community rates, like that of the Supreme Court in Blum,

sets a floor for compensation, to emphasize that civil rights litigation under a

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fee-shifting statute is not a pro bono enterprise. On the other hand, the statutes’

purposes are not fulfilled if counsel reap a windfall at the expense of a defendant

by overcharging for their services. See Riverside v. Rivera, 477 U.S. 561, 580

(1986) (“Congress intended that statutory fee awards be adequate to attract

competent counsel, but not produce windfalls to attorneys.” (internal quotations

and citations omitted)). Nor, as we have put it, are counsel necessarily entitled

to what “lions at the bar” command. See Van Ooteghem, 744 F.2d at 1338. The

trial court legally erred by using the Eastern District of Texas rates for

Goldstein Demchak as its starting point in this unusual situation.

As a consequence of these problems, the fee award to Goldstein Demchak

must be recalculated on remand. The firm’s California rates ought not be simply

inserted into the court’s previous calculations; that they are the new starting

point does not require them to be the end point of analysis. See cases cited

supra. It is apparent that the court carefully tailored the award, adjusting it,

inter alia, for the second chair role played by the firm, approving hourly rates

for travel time, removing a small amount of duplicative work and as will be

noted, discounting the hours spent on unsuccessful claims in the litigation. To

the extent the court deems appropriate, it may have to reconsider all aspects of

the fee award to achieve reasonable compensation in light of the results obtained

for the class members.

B. Comparability of plaintiffs’ and defense’s counsel fees

Although we have concluded already that remand is necessary, it is

appropriate to address and firmly reject plaintiffs’ other challenge to the fee

award, arising from the Supreme Court’s recent opinion in Perdue v. Kenny A.

ex rel. Winn, 130 S. Ct. 1662 (2010). In Perdue, the Court approved, only “in

extraordinary circumstances,” an increase in the attorneys’ fee lodestar “due to

superior performance and results.” Id. at 1669. Two Justices specially

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concurred in emphasis of the rarity of such cases. See id. at 1677 (Kennedy, J,

concurring); id. at 1677-78 (Thomas, J., concurring). True, Perdue notes in

passing that “the lodestar method produces an award that roughly approximates

the fee that the prevailing attorney would have received if he or she had been

representing a paying client who was billed by the hour in a comparable case.” 

Id. at 1672 (emphasis in original). But Perdue never requires or even hints at

the plaintiffs’ proposition: that their hourly rates should approximate those

charged by the defense counsel. 

The plaintiffs persuaded the district court to allow discovery of defense

counsel’s fees and to write on the question of parity between plaintiff and

defense counsel. No prior Fifth Circuit authority requires this comparison, nor

does common experience, because the tasks and roles of counsel on opposite sides

of a case vary fundamentally. If there were logical comparability, this court’s

decisions would have recognized it in the Johnson factors or in past lodestar

decisions. And if, perchance, defense counsel had charged less in the course of

this litigation, plaintiffs would have avoided any paean to comparability. See

Graves v. Barnes, 760 F.2d 200 (5th Cir. 1983). To top it off, opposing counsel’s

total charge for the litigation was $4,864,923.37 – only $124,728 more than the

court awarded to plaintiffs. That difference is just 2.63% of plaintiffs’ total fee

award (and 2.15% of plaintiffs’ total award including costs). One would suppose

a 2.63% disparity falls within a “rough approximation,” but this leads plaintiffs 6

At least one other court has referred to a 10 percent reduction in fee awards as 6

“slight.” See Zolfo, 50 F.3d at 261 (“The bankruptcy court cut Zolfo Cooper’s total

compensation request approximately twelve percent. When faced with a reduction of ten

percent in a similar case, we stated that ‘no court, viewing a record of this magnitude from the

distance inherent in appellate review, could assess the reasonability of a reduction as slight

as ten percent with flawless precision.’” (citation omitted)).

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down a new rabbit trail, and they begin to argue about the higher time-value of

money for fees paid during the litigation than at its conclusion. 

We decline to layer needless complexity in an area in which current law

is practical and clear. On remand, the district court need not consider Perdue.

C. Fees for unsuccessful claims

On cross-appeal, Lufkin attacks the other half of the district court’s

lodestar calculation – the number of hours reasonably expended. Lufkin claims

that plaintiffs were awarded fees accrued in pursuing claims that were not

successful. While plaintiffs initially waged an across-the-board challenge to

Lufkin’s employment procedures, the disparate treatment claims were

dismissed, and they prevailed only on the disparate impact claim relating to 7

Lufkin’s promotion practices. Lufkin must show clear error in the district court’s

factual determinations.

Our decision to remand the case to the district court to recalculate the fee

award using Goldstein Demchak’s home-district rates as a starting point also

disposes of this issue. Calculating fee awards is a holistic endeavor. See

generally Hensley, 461 U.S. at 429-37 (explaining that the amount of fees “must

be determined on the facts of each case” and noting numerous competing

considerations that might be balanced in determining the proper “equitable

judgment”). Consequently, the district court may deem it necessary to

reconsider this element of the fee award.

III. BACK PAY CALCULATIONS

Lufkin argues on cross-appeal that the district court erred in its

calculation of back pay. Following the instructions of the McClain II panel, the

district court awarded plaintiffs $3.3 million in back pay damages and $2.2

 See McClain II, 519 F.3d at 282-83. 7

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million in pre-judgment interest to reflect a total of 136 lost promotions. We

omit discussion of the finer details of the back pay award except to note that

damages commence on March 6, 1994, or 300 days before McClain filed his

EEOC claim. Title VII provides that, except for continuing violations like

harassment, damages may only be awarded for violations that occurred 300

days before an EEOC charge is filed. See 42 U.S.C. 2000e-5(e)(1).

Lufkin now contends that the district court should have awarded damages

commencing no earlier than April 2, 1996, or 300 days before Thomas filed his

EEOC claim. Lufkin reasons that because McClain II held that only Thomas’s

EEOC claim sufficiently exhausted administrative remedies, only that claim

may provide the benchmark for the 300-day calculation. Starting damages two

years later, Lufkin argues, produces two results: the $593,208 in damages

assessed for 1994-95 should be vacated; and the entire back pay award for the

post-1996 period should be vacated because there is no statistically significant

indication of racial discrimination using post-1996 data.

Lufkin does not appear to dispute that the district court correctly followed

the instructions of McClain II. Therefore, Lufkin’s attack on the district court’s

order is really an attack on the holding of McClain II. This court’s rule of

orderliness prevents one panel from overruling the decision of a prior panel. 

Teague v. City of Flower Mound, 179 F.3d 377, 383 (5th Cir. 1999). In addition,

under the law-of-the-case doctrine, “an issue of law or fact decided on appeal

may not be reexamined either by the district court on remand or by the appellate

court on a subsequent appeal.” Fuhrman v. Dretke, 442 F.3d 893, 896 (5th Cir.

2006) (citations and quotations omitted). Nevertheless, Lufkin argues that we

may in effect overrule the previous panel because (1) an intervening 2010

Supreme Court opinion clarifies the 300-day time bar; (2) the law of the case

does not apply because the McClain II implicit decision on limitations was not

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squarely considered by the prior panel and was clearly wrong; and (3) McClain II

may be set aside in order to prevent manifest injustice. On this record, we must

reject these contentions.

First, the intervening Supreme Court decision on which Lufkin relies adds

nothing. In Lewis v. City of Chicago, 130 S. Ct. 2191 (2010), the Court rejected

class certification for a sub-class of plaintiffs who alleged injury prior to the

Title VII 300-day bar. Lewis neither forged new law nor elaborated on the

300-day period. Indeed, the 300-day statutory bar was clear well before Lewis. 

See, e.g., United Air Lines, Inc. v. Evans, 431 U.S. 553, 558 (1977)

(“A discriminatory act which is not made the basis for a timely charge is the

legal equivalent of a discriminatory act which occurred before the statute was

passed . . . . [It] has no present legal consequences.”). 

Second, Lufkin claims that McClain II overlooked the question of the

proper date on which to commence damages for the lost promotion claim, and

therefore, the law-of-the-case doctrine does not apply. McClain II noted,

however, that Lufkin did not contest Thomas’s 1997 EEOC claim at trial:

Although McClain’s EEOC complaint and the OFCCP investigation

failed to exhaust the employees’ class claims, Buford Thomas’s

EEOC complaint carries part of the requisite burden. . . . We

conclude, however, that exhaustion was sufficient. Significantly,

Lufkin did not contend otherwise in the trial court” (emphasis

added).

See 519 F.3d at 275. According to Lufkin, the McClain II panel erred by not

following the logic of its argument to the conclusion that any damages owed to

the class for lost promotions must therefore be limited to the 300-day period

preceding Thomas’s claim. That McClain II did not go this extra mile is clear. 

That a proper application of the Title VII statute of limitations would have

required this result is also clear.

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The question before this court, then, is whether the law of the case

doctrine should not apply either because McClain II overlooked this point or

because manifest injustice ensues from a failure to vacate and remand the

damage award.

Lufkin, we believe, does not merit our exercise of discretion to “correct”

McClain II for two reasons. First, Lufkin waived its right to complain about the

correct application of the time bar. Lufkin acknowledges in this appeal that it

did not question at trial the sufficiency of Thomas’s EEOC claim to exhaust

administrative remedies for the class. Lufkin also admits that, as a

consequence, it made no argument in the trial court or to this court on appeal

concerning the proper time bar if Thomas’s exhausted claim became the linchpin

for the class’s claims. Yet Lufkin strenuously challenged, and we ultimately

upheld its challenge, of the sufficiency of McClain’s EEOC charge to exhaust

remedies for the class. Why Lufkin chose not to question, as a fallback, the

ramifications of Thomas’s EEOC claim is unstated. Lufkin added Thomas’s

EEOC charge to the trial court record. Lufkin now asserts that “no one” at the

trial court level sought relief on that charge. But it is part of the record and

Lufkin does not deny that it has operative effect. That this court overlooked how

the 300-day statute of limitation would apply to claims founded on Thomas’s

EEOC charge is in large measure a product of Lufkin’s oversight.

Second, despite the large sum of damages alleged to turn on this issue, we

do notfind “manifest injustice” that necessitates “correction.” This case has been

in litigation nearly fifteen years and has spawned five appeals. Vacating the

damage award and remanding for further proceedings would be a costly and

complex undertaking. It is likely that whatever amount Lufkin successfully

shaved off the damage award would be offset by the attorneys’ fees plaintiffs

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would accrue on remand. Given this economic reality and the background

circumstances, justice is better served by finality.

We therefore affirm the district court’s back pay calculation.8

CONCLUSION

We maintain–indeed, this panel has no authority to abrogate–our

longstanding rule that attorneys for successful civil rights plaintiffs should 

presumptively receive local forum prevailing rates. The case before us today,

however, is atypical because an avalanche of unrebutted evidence established

that (1) plaintiffs’ counsel required assistance in prosecuting the case and (2) no 

lawyers within the district or state were available to assist on this particular

case. As a result, the trial court erred in failing to calculate the initial lodestar

using the rates Goldstein Demchak attorneys typically charge in their own home

district. The court, on remand, must reconsider the fee award using those rates

as a starting point. We intimate no view on the final fee award to be issued.

There is no reversible error, however, in the district court’s calculation of

back pay.

For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the district court is

AFFIRMED IN PART, VACATED AND REMANDED IN PART.

Because we conclude that the district court did not err in its use of 1994 as a

8

backstop, we do not address Lufkin’s arguments as to plaintiffs’ inability to demonstrate a

statistically significant shortfall in promotions.

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EDITH H. JONES, Chief Judge, concurring:

Although it is unusual, I feel obliged to clarify a couple of points because

of Judge Dennis’s concurrence and to add one overarching comment.

Judge Dennis suggests that the majority opinion does not “categorically

prohibit” district courts from comparing the fees of defense counsel and

prevailing plaintiffs’ counsel when statutory fee shifting occurs. The language

may not be “categorical,” but it certainly disfavors inquiries on the precise

“comparability” of plaintiffs’ and defense counsel’s fees such as the plaintiffs

sought here. Because neither Judge Dennis nor the plaintiffs cite any authority

besides dicta in Perdue supporting the inapt comparison, and such comparisons

are bound to distract district courts from the basic question of the

reasonableness of the plaintiffs’ fees, questions of comparability “layer needless

complexity” in an area where the law is practical and clear.

Judge Dennis also suggests that the majority does not approve the trial

court’s characterization of the Goldstein Demchak firm’s services as those of

second-chair counsel. Of course we did. This opinion finds error in two of the

three relevant findings by the district court, but we do not criticize its third

finding, that “Goldstein Demchak attorneys performed second-chair trial

duties . . . .” Moreover, we note that because the district court “carefully tailored

the award, adjusting it, inter alia, for the second-chair role played by the firm,”

it may have to reconsider all aspects of the fee award. No clear error was shown

in this finding by the district court, which reviewed the previous proceedings

thoroughly. This finding by the district court is not reversed, and it may become

relevant on remand.

It cannot escape the reader’s attention that the Goldstein Demchak firm

has been authorized to receive several million dollars in fees, and a million

dollars in expenses, for prevailing in this protracted case. But to them, that’s

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not enough, and they seek an hourly increase that will add $3 million more to

their award. If that happens, the attorneys will have received nearly double the

dollar award of the plaintiffs. What has fee shifting come to? This is not an

appeal about incentivizing modestly compensated attorneys for pursuing noble

goals: the $400 hourly rate awarded to Mr. Garrigan is hardly a day laborer’s

fee. This appeal is designed simply to enrich, not to enhance or encourage. The

Supreme Court holds that fee-shifting cannot bring a windfall to attorneys. See

Rivera, supra. On remand, the district court should exercise its discretion

within the parameters we have set out to prevent a windfall recovery. See

Hensley, supra.

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DENNIS, Circuit Judge, concurring in the judgment.

I agree with much of the majority opinion — particularly its adoption of

the generally accepted rule that “[w]hen fees are sought for an out-of-town

specialist [attorney], courts must determine (1) whether hiring the out-oftown specialist was reasonable in the first instance, and (2) whether the rates

sought by the out-of-town specialist are reasonable for an attorney of his or

her degree of skill, experience, and reputation.” Hadix v. Johnson, 65 F.3d

532, 535 (6th Cir. 2005). I further agree that the application of this rule to 1

the facts of this case requires us to vacate the district court’s award of

attorneys’ fees to Goldstein Demchak and remand for reconsideration using

the firm’s usual rates as the basis for calculating the lodestar figure. I also

agree with the majority’s decision to affirm the district court’s calculation of

back pay.

Insofar as the majority opinion states that the Supreme Court’s recent

opinion in Perdue v. Kenny A. ex rel. Winn, 130 S. Ct. 1662 (2010), does not

require parity between the hourly rates or total fees of the prevailing party’s

counsel and the other side’s counsel, I agree with that conclusion. However,

the Perdue Court’s comment that “the lodestar method produces an award

that roughly approximates the fee that the prevailing attorney would have

received if he or she had been representing a paying client who was billed by

the hour in a comparable case,” id. at 1672, does indicate to me that the

This approach has been followed, with minor variations, by at least nine circuits. See, 1

e.g., Simmons v. N.Y. City Transit Auth., 575 F.3d 170, 175-76 (2d Cir. 2009); Mathur v. Bd.

of Trustees of S. Ill. Univ., 317 F.3d 738, 744 (7th Cir. 2003); Zolfo, Cooper & Co. v. SunbeamOster Co., 50 F.3d 253, 259 (3d Cir. 1995); Casey v. City of Cabool, Mo., 12 F.3d 799, 805 (8th

Cir. 1993); Gates v. Deukmejian, 987 F.2d 1392, 1405-06 (9th Cir. 1992); Nat’l Wildlife Fed’n

v. Hanson, 859 F.2d 313, 317 (4th Cir. 1988); Maceira v. Pagan, 698 F.2d 38, 40 (1st Cir. 1983);

Donnell v. United States, 682 F.2d 240, 252 (D.C. Cir. 1982).

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hourly rates or total fees charged by defense counsel are relevant to the

question of what is a reasonable hourly rate or total fee for a prevailing

plaintiff’s counsel. As the Seventh Circuit has put it, “when the defendant

has hired expensive, out of town counsel, the plaintiffs seem justified in

saying that the nature of the case required the skills of out of town

specialists.” Chrapliwy v. Uniroyal, Inc., 670 F.2d 760, 768 n.18 (7th Cir.

1982). In at least some cases, the “hourly rates charged by the defendant’s

attorneys provide a helpful guide in determining whether similarly high rates

and hours requested by the plaintiffs were reasonable.” Id. I do not read the

majority opinion as categorically prohibiting district courts from ever

considering the rates charged by the opposing party’s counsel when

determining fee awards under fee-shifting statutes. In any event,

consideration of defense counsel’s fees appears to be unnecessary in the

present case, given that “an avalanche of unrebutted evidence” (in the

majority’s words) already establishes that Goldstein Demchak’s usual rates

are the proper basis for the lodestar calculation.

The majority opinion does not address the question of whether the

district court committed clear error by characterizing the Goldstein Demchak

attorneys as playing a mere “second-chair” role. It is unclear whether the 2

characterization of an attorney as “second-chair” is at all relevant to the

proper calculation of the fee award. But even if it is, the undisputed 3

Normally there would be good reason to defer to the trial judge’s characterization of 2

an attorney’s role in a case. However, in this case, the judge who determined the award of

attorneys’ fees was not the same judge who presided over the trial.

If anything, it may be relevant to “whether hiring the out-of-town specialist was

3

reasonable in the first instance,” Hadix, 65 F.3d at 535. But that question is no longer at issue

in this case, since the majority opinion rightly concludes that the evidence in the record

overwhelmingly shows that hiring Goldstein Demchak was reasonable.

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evidence in the record clearly establishes that the firm did not play a “secondchair” role in litigating this case. Attorneys and staff from Goldstein

Demchak worked more than four times as many billable hours on this case as

did Garrigan and his one paralegal. At trial, Goldstein Demchak attorneys

examined 11 out of 22 witnesses, including both sides’ expert witnesses. And

Garrigan sought the firm’s help in the first place because of its superior

reputation and expertise in the field of employment discrimination class

action litigation. These facts are inconsistent with a mere “second-chair” role. 

Therefore, on remand, the district court should not rely on the erroneous

“second-chair” label as grounds for reducing the fee award to Goldstein

Demchak.

With these observations, I concur in the result reached by the majority:

affirming the district court’s calculation of back pay, vacating the fee award to

Goldstein Demchak, and remanding for reconsideration of the fee award.

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