Opinion ID: 478410
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Reduction for Limited Relief Obtained

Text: 13 Defendants argue that the district court abused its discretion by not reducing the fee awarded to reflect the limited relief obtained by plaintiffs. We disagree. 14 As we have already suggested, success in a lawsuit is not always measured by the formal relief obtained. See, e.g., Maher v. Gagne, 448 U.S. 122, 129, 100 S.Ct. 2570, 2574, 65 L.Ed.2d 653 (1980). Here, although plaintiffs ultimately elected not to press their damages claim, they received formal injunctive relief. More important, they achieved the practical result they sought. The district court could properly award fees for the efforts of plaintiffs' attorney that led to the favorable practical outcome, even if they did not also lead to an award of damages. See also City of Riverside v. Rivera, --- U.S. ----, 106 S.Ct. 2686, 2695, 91 L.Ed.2d 466 (1986) (award of reasonable attorney's fee under Sec. 1988 not conditioned upon an award of money damages).