Opinion ID: 549855
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The 1985 Amendments and Implementing Case Law

Text: 42 To remedy this split in the federal courts, Congress, in reenacting the EAJA in 1985, explicitly adopted the McDonald court's flexible formulation of the filing requirement. Responding to the McDonald court's suggestion that Congress modify the filing requirement to read within thirty days of final judgment in the district court if it preferred the McQuiston rule or within thirty days after the judgment in the district court has become final and unappealable, or after the court of appeals or the Supreme Court has entered a final judgment if it preferred the McDonald court's interpretation, id. at 315, Congress added a statutory clause defining final judgment as a judgment that is final and not appealable, and includes an order of settlement. Equal Access to Justice Act, Extension and Amendment, Pub.L. No. 99-80, Sec. 2(c)(2), 99 Stat. 183, 185 (1985) (codified at 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2412(d)(2)(G)). 43 Since Congress's adoption of the McDonald approach, this court has applied a broad, flexible approach in determining what constitutes the permissible time period for filing an EAJA fee application. See James v. United States Dep't of Housing and Urban Development, 783 F.2d 997, 998 (11th Cir.1986). Acknowledging that the thirty-day filing requirement was not designed to serve as a trap for the unwary, id. at 999, this court has recognized that the filing requirement, although jurisdictional, should be interpreted broadly and that overtechnical constructions of the requirement should be avoided. Id. at 998-99. Consistent with this approach, we have treated the thirty-day provision in the Act as defining only a nonwaivable deadline for filing a fee petition. Upon expiration of this period, the district court loses jurisdiction to consider the merits of any fee petitions not timely filed. See Martindale, 890 F.2d at 413; J.H.T., Inc., 872 F.2d at 375. We have held, however, that the thirty-day period does not define the interval in which an application for fees must be filed; a claimant is permitted to file a petition for fees before a final judgment (as that term is used in the EAJA) has been entered. See Haitian Refugee Center, 791 F.2d at 1495-96. 44 Similarly, this court has adopted a functional approach in determining what constitutes a final judgment under the EAJA. See Martindale, 890 F.2d at 412 & n. 3. Under this approach, we have construed the Act's definition of final judgment as designating the date on which a party's case has met its final demise, such that there is no longer any possibility that the district court's judgment is open to attack. James, 783 F.2d at 997. Application of this functional approach leads to the conclusion that a final judgment is, to a great extent, dependent upon the actions taken by the government subsequent to entry of the district court's judgment. For example, in Martindale v. Sullivan, 890 F.2d 410 (11th Cir.1989), the government chose not to appeal the district court's judgment. Because the government provided no notice of its intention to forgo an appeal, see 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2414, we held that the district court's judgment became final when the time for filing a notice of an appeal expired. 890 F.2d at 413 n. 5. In contrast, in James v. United States Dep't of Housing and Urban Development, 783 F.2d 997 (11th Cir.1986), the government chose to appeal the district court's judgment, but later dismissed the appeal. Once the government's appeal had been dismissed, the parties were on clear notice that the district court's judgment was no longer subject to attack. Accordingly, this court held that the date of the government's dismissal marked the point at which the district court's judgment became a final judgment under the EAJA. Id. at 998-99. 45 Other courts have agreed that the determination of what constitutes an EAJA final judgment commencing the final thirty-day period in which a district court has jurisdiction to consider a fee application should be broadly construed so as not to deprive the unwitting claimant of attorney's fees. In reaching this conclusion, these courts have also noted that, unless the time for filing an appeal has expired, it is frequently difficult for the private party to determine when a district court order or settlement should be considered nonappealable unless the government gives a clear and unequivocal indication that no appeal will be forthcoming. For example, in Papazian v. Bowen, 856 F.2d 1455, 1456 (9th Cir.1988) (per curiam), a Social Security case, the plaintiff challenged the Secretary's decision denying disability benefits by filing a complaint in district court. Prior to the district court's resolution of the litigation, the parties agreed that the plaintiff was disabled and that the case should be remanded to the Secretary for further administrative proceedings to determine the amount of the benefit award. The parties filed a stipulation to that effect with the district court, which approved the stipulation and remanded the case. Rather than filing an EAJA fee application within thirty days of the stipulation and remand order, the claimant waited until after the Secretary determined the date on which the claimant had become disabled and set the benefits amount, and the district court approved the Secretary's action and dismissed the lawsuit. The Secretary claimed that this filing was untimely, contending that the stipulation should be treated as a nonappealable settlement. 46 Rejecting this contention, the Ninth Circuit noted that the parties had stipulated to a remand for further administrative proceedings and that the agency's actions during these additional proceedings remained open to potential challenge by the claimant. Id. at 1456. Additionally, the court noted that the Secretary had not seasonably provided clear notice to the court or the claimant that it had viewed the litigation as having been resolved. Under such circumstances, the court determined that the purposes of the EAJA would be defeated by adopting the approach suggested by the Secretary. Id. 47 Similarly, in City of Brunswick v. United States, 661 F.Supp. 1431, 1438-39 (S.D.Ga.1987), rev'd on other grounds, 849 F.2d 501 (11th Cir.1988), cert. denied, 489 U.S. 1053, 109 S.Ct. 1313, 103 L.Ed.2d 582 (1989), the district court eschewed an overly rigid approach and refused to define final judgment in an overly technical manner. In City of Brunswick, the parties agreed to a stipulated settlement in which they agreed to submit their dispute to an arbitration panel. Both parties agreed to be bound by the decisions of the arbitration panel, and the federal agency agreed that if the arbitration panel made specific recommendations, it would act consistently with those recommendations and that its actions would become effective upon order of the district court. After receiving the arbitration panel's report, however, the federal agency contested various aspects of the panel's recommendations. Ultimately, however, the agency complied with the panel's recommendations, and the district court issued its final order pursuant to the settlement. 48 According to the government, the district court did not have jurisdiction to consider the plaintiff's petition for attorney's fees because a completed fee application was not filed until more than thirty days after entry of the district court's final order. The district court disagreed. It noted that the federal agency, after hearing the conclusions of the arbitration panel, had filed objections to the arbitrators' conclusions. Although the federal agency withdrew its objection before the district court's order, the district court reasoned that the plaintiff had no clear assurances that the federal agency would not appeal the settlement. Because the settlement potentially was appealable and because the plaintiff had received no indication from the federal agency that it was not going to appeal the settlement order, the court concluded that its final order pursuant to the settlement could not be considered a final, nonappealable judgment for purposes of the EAJA until the agency's sixty-day period for filing a notice of appeal had expired. Id. at 1438. 49 Certain recurring themes emerge from these cases. Predominant among them is a recognition that the EAJA was enacted to encourage private parties to challenge government conduct that impair constitutional or statutory rights. Realization of this purpose inextricably leads to the view that the EAJA's filing requirement is not be construed in such a manner so as to deny EAJA fees to a prevailing plaintiff through the erection of confusing or misleading procedures and rules. The EAJA is premised upon the basic notion that parties who successfully challenge substantially unjustified government positions are generally entitled to recover the fees incurred in doing so. To create unforeseen obstacles so as to deny fees to those parties who have prevailed in their litigation would defeat the very purpose of the Act. As a result, the courts have recognized that the filing requirement should be interpreted broadly and that overtechnical constructions which could be a trap for the unwary should be avoided. 50 Our study of the 1985 amendments to the EAJA and the legislative history persuades us that the developing case law has properly captured Congress's intent. When Congress unsuccessfully attempted to reenact the EAJA after its expiration on October 1, 1984, 8 it sought to clarify various aspects of the Act by including a series of definitional provisions. Among these new passages was a clarification that final judgment meant final and not appealable. According to the Senate Judiciary Committee Report accompanying this attempted reenactment, the added language was designed to show Congress's concurrence with the views expressed by the Seventh Circuit in McDonald v. Schweiker. According to the Report, the clarifying amendment was adopted for the express purpose of establishing that [t]he EAJA allows a prevailing party to file a fee petition within 30 days of the final disposition of a case on the merits, i.e. when a party's right to appeal the order has lapsed. See Taylor v. United States, 749 F.2d at 174 (emphasis added), quoting Report of Senate Judiciary Committee accompanying S. 919, S.Rep. No. 98-586, 98th Congress, 2d Sess. 16 (1984). 51 Similarly, the published legislative history of the version of the EAJA subsequently passed by Congress continued to echo McDonald 's theme that the EAJA's timely filing requirement was to be interpreted broadly. According to the House Report accompanying the newly reenacted EAJA, Congress emphasized that this section should not be used as a trap for the unwary resulting in the unwarranted denial of fees, and warned courts to avoid an overly technical construction of the timeliness requirement. See H.R.Rep. No. 120, 99th Cong., 1st Sess. 18 n. 26, reprinted in 1985 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 132, 146 n. 26. To illustrate Congressional intent, the Committee Report provided the following examples: 52 If a settlement is reached and the fee award is not part of the settlement, then the thirty-day period would commence on the date when the proceeding is dismissed pursuant to the settlement or when the adjudicative officer approves the settlement. 53 Thus, if the Government does not appeal an adverse decision, the thirty-day period would begin to run upon expiration of the time for filing the notice of appeal or a petition for certiorari. The appealable orders include all discretionary appeals and include writs of certiorari. When the government dismisses an appeal, the date of dismissal commences the thirty-day period. In a case remanded by a court of appeals for entry of judgment, the thirty days would commence on expiration of the time for appealing the judgment on remand. 54 Upon denial of a petition for certiorari, the thirty-day period would begin when the time to seek rehearing expires. For Supreme Court cases heard on the merits, the expiration of the time for seeking rehearing will begin the thirty-day period in any case which is not remanded for entry of judgment. A similar analysis applies in direct appeal cases. Id. 9 55 Drawing from the foregoing case law and legislative history, we conclude that, in cases in which the Secretary potentially could appeal from a district court's post-remand final judgment, but chooses not to do so, the general rule should be that the thirty-day time limit commences to run when the Secretary's time for taking an appeal from the post-remand judgment expires. An exception to the general rule would exist only when the Secretary provides clear and unequivocal notice that he is waiving his right to appeal the district court's post-remand judgment. 10 See 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2414 (Whenever the Attorney General determines that no appeal shall be taken from a judgment or that no further review will be sought from a decision affirming same, he shall so certify and the judgment shall be deemed final); see also Keasler v. United States, 766 F.2d 1227, 1230 (8th Cir.1985). So long as the government possesses the right to appeal and has not given a clear, unequivocal indication that no appeal will be forthcoming, a claimant for fees may reasonably assume that the government will be mounting a challenge to the district court's post-remand judgment. Once the Secretary gives clear and unequivocal notice that he will not appeal, however, the prevailing party must file the EAJA fee application within thirty days in order to be timely. 56