Opinion ID: 670806
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: attorney's fees for previous appeal

Text: 40 Defendant-appellant contends that the award of attorney's fees for services rendered in the previous appeal should be reversed. Plaintiffs are not yet a prevailing party with respect to the issues raised in the previous appeal. Specifically, both the limited success issue and the offset issue are now pending before this court. Defendant-appellant argues that if defendant-appellant obtains either a reduction or an offset, plaintiffs will have received no benefit from the previous appeal. 41 Plaintiffs argue that a party who ultimately prevails in a Section 1983 action is entitled to fees for all services rendered in all phases of litigation. Consequently, plaintiffs contend, defendant-appellant's contention that the district court abused its discretion by including in its fee determination compensation for services rendered on the first appeal is frivolous. 42 Thus, the issue before the court is whether the services rendered by plaintiffs' attorney during the previous appeal and subsequent remand represent compensable legal work. This issue is resolved by Ninth Circuit case law. If a party meets with total success on appeal, it is proper to award full attorney's fees. If, however, a party meets with partial success on appeal, it is proper to award attorney's fees only for those claims successfully defended on the merits. Larez v. Los Angeles, 946 F.2d 630, 649 (9th Cir.1991); see Conner v. Santa Ana, 897 F.2d 1487, 1494 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 816, 111 S.Ct. 59, 112 L.Ed.2d 34 (1990). Because the limited success issue and the offset issue have been remanded again, it is not yet known whether plaintiffs will prevail on these two issues. Accordingly, we reverse the district court's award of attorney's fees incurred during the previous appeal and subsequent remand. 43 If plaintiffs prevail on either or both issues on remand, then further fees would be proper to compensate for the fees incurred during both the previous appeal and subsequent remand. In addition, fees which have been incurred during this appeal will also be proper. A plaintiff who is unsuccessful at a stage of litigation that was a necessary step to her ultimate victory is entitled to attorney's fees even for the unsuccessful stage. Cabrales v. County of Los Angeles, 935 F.2d 1050, 1053 (9th Cir.1991).