Source: https://www.justice.gov/oip/blog/foia-update-approaching-bench-when-plaintiff-substantially-prevails
Timestamp: 2019-04-18 18:23:06+00:00

Document:
FOIA Update: Approaching the Bench: When Plaintiff "Substantially Prevails"
In the June 1981 issue of FOIA Update the question of how to ascertain the amount of reasonable attorney's fees was discussed. As noted in that article, calculating the amount of the fee is the last element of a three part analysis. The first two elements, eligibility (is the statutory test satisfied?) and entitlement (as a matter of judicial discretion, should fees be awarded?) also raise a number of issues.
Causation issues rarely arise in cases in which the judge orders materials to be released. Most frequently the question of whether the filing of the action--as opposed to some other reason--caused the agency to release the documents is presented when suit is brought because the agency has been unable to respond to the request within the time periods specified in the Act. Usually, the courts find that if the delay was excusable under the due diligence test of Open America v. Watergate Special Prosecution Force, 547 F.2d 605 (D.C. Cir. 1976), then it cannot be said that the litigation was the cause of release.(2) Exner v. Federal Bureau of Investigation(3) is an exception to this line of cases. There the court held that its granting of the plaintiffs request for expedited processing--as an exception to the FBI's first-in, first-out practice approved in Open America constituted "substantially prevailing," even though the suit resulted only in earlier, rather than greater, disclosure. This holding also would seem to increase the risk of the agency being found liable for attorney's fees if, without a court order, it expedites the processing of a request which is the subject of litigation.
Determining what constitutes "substantially prevailing" is not susceptible to precise determination. Judge Gerhard A. Gesell has disapproved of "arithmetic gamesmanship" whereby each party argues over pages and percentages of groups of materials sought.(5) The government has enjoyed only limited success in arguing that attorney's fees should not be awarded unless the materials released are of significance. See Braintree Electric Light Department v. Department of Energy, 494 F. Supp. 287 (D.D.C. 1980) (bulk of documents withheld; no attorney's fees because only documents ordered disclosed were of "minimal significance").
As described here and in the preceding FOIA Update, it is clear that even after all disclosure issues in a suit have been settled, much work on attorney's fees may still remain before the case is finally closed.
1. E.g., Church of Scientology of California v. Harris, No. 80-1189 (D.C. Cir. Apr. 17, 1981).
2. Cox. v. United States Department of Justice, 601 F.2d 1, 6 (1979); Pacheco v. FBI, 470 F. Supp. 1091 (D.P.R. 1979).
3. 443 F. Supp. 1349 (S.D. Cal. 1978), aff'd, 612 F.2d 1202, 1207 (9th Cir. 1980).
4. Church of Scientology of California v. Harris, No. 80-1189 (D.C. Cir. Apr. 17, 1981); Allen v. Immigration and Naturalization Service, No. 80-2246 (D.D.C. July 20, 1981).
5. Indian Law Resource Center v. United States Department of Justice, No. 79-0540 (D.D.C. Jan. 25, 1981). But see Fonda v. U.S. Department of Justice, No. 76-289 (D.D.C. May 13, 1981) (". . . the Court would be reluctant to conclude that release of 23% of the material meets the standard of substantially prevailing").
6. Cuneo v. Rumsfeld, 533 F.2d 1360, 1366 (D.C. Cir. 1977).
7. Crooker v. Department of Justice, 632 F.2d 916 (1st Cir. 1980); Burke v. United States Department of Justice, 559 F.2d 1182 (10th Cir. 1977), affirming 432 F. Supp. 251 (D. Kan. 1976).
8.There. is no presumption in favor of awards of attorneys fees. The plaintiff bears the burden of making the necessary showing. Fonda v. U.S. Department of Justice, supra.
9. LaSalle Extension University v. F.T.C., 627 F. 2d 481, 484 (D.C. Cir. 1980); Fenster v. Brown, 617 F.2d 740, 743 (D.C. Cir. 1979); Nationwide Building Maintenance, Inc. v. Sampson, 559 F.2d 704, 714 (D.C. Cir. 1977).
10. LaSalle Extension University v. F.T.C., supra; Fenster v. Brown, supra. But see Allen v. Immigration and Naturalization Service, supra, where the first three factors tilted in favor of the defendant, but where the court granted an award in order to compensate the plaintiff for "enduring an agency's unreasonable refusal to comply with the FOIA."
11. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Labor, No. 78-1711 (D.D.C. Oct. 9, 1980).
12. Cox. v. United States Department of Justice, supra.

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