Opinion ID: 786874
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: PVUSD's Cross-Appeal

Text: 14 PVUSD cross-appeals both the district court's determination that the Shapiros were the prevailing parties for purposes of the IDEA and the amount of the fee award. The Shapiros contend that PVUSD has waived the issue of whether they were the prevailing parties because it never appealed the original August 7, 2002, order awarding fees. 5 See Fed. R.App. P. 3(c)(1)(B) (stating that the notice of appeal must designate the judgment, order, or part thereof being appealed). In its notice of appeal, PVUSD designated only the September 3, 2002, amended judgment, by which the district court increased the amount of attorney's fees.
15 Before addressing the question of whether PVUSD waived the prevailing party issue, we must examine the timeliness of PVUSD's notice of appeal. The original order, determining that the Shapiros were the prevailing parties, was filed on August 7, 2002. The Shapiros filed their motion for partial reconsideration on August 12, 2002. The order granting the motion for reconsideration and the resultant amended judgment increasing the amount of attorney's fees were filed on September 3, 2002. The Shapiros filed their notice of appeal on September 5, 2002, stating that they were appealing the August 7, 2002, order. PVUSD filed its notice of appeal on October 2, 2002, stating that it was appealing from the amended judgment entered on September 3, 2002. 16 Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(a)(3) allows a party to file a cross-appeal either within 14 days after the date when the first notice was filed, or within the time otherwise prescribed by this Rule 4(a), whichever period ends later. Fed. R.App. P. 4(a)(3). PVUSD did not file its notice of appeal within 14 days after the Shapiros filed their notice of appeal. Rule 4 further provides, however, that if a party timely files in the district court, inter alia, a motion to alter or amend the judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59, or for relief under Rule 60, if filed within ten days, the time to file an appeal runs for all parties from the entry of the order disposing of the last such remaining motion. Fed. R.App. P. 4(a)(4)(A); see also McCarthy v. Mayo, 827 F.2d 1310, 1313 n. 1 (9th Cir.1987) (stating that a timely Rule 59(e) motion tolls the time period for filing a notice of appeal and that the thirty-day time period for filing the notice of appeal begins when the district court denies the Rule 59(e) motion). 17 The Shapiros' August 12, 2002, motion for partial reconsideration, which was timely, does not state under which rule the motion was brought. Nonetheless, a timely filed motion for reconsideration under a local rule is construed as a motion to alter or amend a judgment under Rule 59(e). Schroeder v. McDonald, 55 F.3d 454, 459 (9th Cir.1995); see also Am. Ironworks & Erectors Inc. v. N. Am. Constr. Corp., 248 F.3d 892, 898-99 (9th Cir.2001) (stating that a motion for reconsideration is treated as a Rule 59(e) motion if filed within ten days of entry of judgment, but as a Rule 60(b) motion if filed more than ten days after judgment). We therefore construe the Shapiros' motion as having been filed under Rule 59(e). The time for filing a notice of appeal, accordingly, was tolled until the district court's order granting the motion, rendering PVUSD's notice of appeal timely. See Fed. R.App. P. 4(a)(3), 4(a)(4)(A)(iv); cf. United States v. Nutri-cology, Inc., 982 F.2d 394, 397 (9th Cir.1992) (stating that[a] motion, however labelled, served within ten days of the entry of an order that could have been brought under Rule 59(e) tolls the time for filing a notice of appeal (citation omitted)).
18 Where a party seeks to argue the merits of an order that does not appear on the face of the notice of appeal, we consider two factors: (1) whether the intent to appeal a specific judgment can be fairly inferred, and (2) whether the appellee was prejudiced by the mistake. Lolli v. County of Orange, 351 F.3d 410, 414 (9th Cir.2003). The policy underlying this test is that it would violate the spirit of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to avoid a decision on the merits on the basis of mere technicalities. McCarthy, 827 F.2d at 1314 (citing Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178, 181, 83 S.Ct. 227, 9 L.Ed.2d 222 (1962)). 19 Generally, the intent to appeal a specific judgment can be fairly inferred where the failure to cite the specific judgment was clearly an oversight or mistake, or when such intent makes sense in light of the circumstances. See, e.g., Lolli, 351 F.3d at 414 (finding that the party's intent to appeal the grant of summary judgment against him can be inferred, as we frequently have done when a party appeals after its motion for reconsideration was denied); United States v. Belgarde, 300 F.3d 1177, 1180 (9th Cir.2002) (finding that the government intended to appeal both the dismissal of the indictment and the denial of its motion for reconsideration, even though the government failed to specify the order dismissing the indictment); Simpson v. Lear Astronics Corp., 77 F.3d 1170, 1173 (9th Cir.1996) (finding that the appellant intended to appeal both the award of sanctions and the amount of sanctions, even though the notice of appeal listed only the order setting the amount, because the notice of appeal and his opening brief gave the appellee adequate notice of his intent); McCarthy, 827 F.2d at 1314 (stating that it could be fairly inferred that the appellant intended to appeal the original summary judgment against him when he designated the denial of his postjudgment motions as the order being appealed). Thus, for example, in Belgarde, the government's intent to appeal the dismissal of the indictment, and not merely the denial of its motion for reconsideration of the order dismissing the indictment, could be inferred. Belgarde, 300 F.3d at 1180. 20 The situation here, however, is different from that presented in the precedent. It was the Shapiros, not PVUSD, who filed the original notice of appeal of the order awarding attorney's fees. The Shapiros appealed because the district court ruled against them on the issue of Walker's right to practice law in Arizona. Thus, unlike McCarthy, Belgarde, and Lolli, in which there was clearly one losing party who would appeal both a denial of a motion for reconsideration, as well as the original adverse judgment, the Shapiros were the party who wanted to appeal the original judgment that was adverse to them. PVUSD did not appeal until the amount of attorney's fees was greatly increased, and its notice of appeal stated only that it was appealing from the amended judgment entered in this action on September 3, 2002 regarding attorney fees. It therefore is not clear that PVUSD considered the original judgment to be adverse to it. PVUSD's notice of appeal, in fact, indicates that PVUSD was troubled only by the increased amount of attorney's fees. 21 The second factor, prejudice to the appellee, however, weighs in PVUSD's favor. PVUSD argued the prevailing party issue in its opening brief on cross-appeal, and the Shapiros have had the opportunity to respond to it in their answering brief to the cross-appeal. Cf. Simpson, 77 F.3d at 1173 (finding that the opening brief gave the appellee adequate notice of the appellant's intent to appeal both the award and the amount of sanctions); McCarthy, 827 F.2d at 1314 (finding no prejudice where the opening brief addressed the district court's initial ruling and the appellees had also fully briefed the issues). Moreover, both the amended judgment referred to by PVUSD and the order appealed from by the Shapiros pertain to attorney's fees. For these reasons, we conclude that the prevailing party issue raised by PVUSD's cross-appeal is properly before us.
22 PVUSD argues that the Shapiros were not the prevailing parties because the judgment in their favor was technical and de minimis, citing Buckhannon Bd. & Care Home, Inc. v. W. Va. Dep't of Health & Human Res., 532 U.S. 598, 121 S.Ct. 1835, 149 L.Ed.2d 855 (2001), and Parents of Student W. v. Puyallup Sch. Dist., No. 3, 31 F.3d 1489 (9th Cir.1994). In Buckhannon, the Supreme Court held that the term `prevailing party,' as it is used in various attorney's fees statutes, requires a `material alteration of the legal relationship of the parties.' 6 Bennett v. Yoshina, 259 F.3d 1097, 1100 (9th Cir.2001) (quoting Buckhannon, 532 U.S. at 604, 121 S.Ct. 1835). Buckhannon concerned the attorney's fees provisions of the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 and the Americans with Disabilities Act. We have not yet had occasion to determine whether Buckhannon applies to the IDEA's attorney's fees provision. We have, however, applied Buckhannon to a number of other attorney's fees statutes. See, e.g., Kasza v. Whitman, 325 F.3d 1178, 1180 (9th Cir.2003) (applying Buckhannon to the fee-shifting provision of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, 42 U.S.C. § 6972(e)); Perez-Arellano v. Smith, 279 F.3d 791, 793-94 (9th Cir.2002) (applying Buckhannon to the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(1)(A)); Bennett, 259 F.3d at 1100-01 (applying Buckhannon to the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Awards Act of 1976, 42 U.S.C. § 1988). 23 Moreover, all of the other circuits to confront the issue have held that Buckhannon applies to the attorney's fees provision of the IDEA. See T.D. v. LaGrange Sch. Dist. No. 102, 349 F.3d 469, 471 (7th Cir.2003) (holding that Buckhannon applies to the attorney's fees provision of the IDEA); John T. v. Del. County Intermediate Unit, 318 F.3d 545, 555-58 (3d Cir.2003) (same); J.C. v. Reg'l Sch. Dist. 10, 278 F.3d 119, 123-25 (2d Cir.2002) (same); see also G ex rel. RG v. Fort Bragg Dependent Sch., 343 F.3d 295, 310 (4th Cir.2003) (relying on Buckhannon in an IDEA case); Me. Sch. Admin. Dist. No. 35 v. Mr. & Mrs. R., 321 F.3d 9, 15 (1st Cir.2003) (same). We see no reason not to follow this consistent line of precedent from our own and other circuits applying Buckhannon. We therefore conclude that Buckhannon's definition of prevailing party applies to the IDEA's attorney's fees provision, 20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(3)(B). 24 PVUSD correctly contends that a plaintiff is not the prevailing party if his or her success is purely technical or de minimis. Parents of Student W., 31 F.3d at 1498. Nevertheless, it is also true that a party may be accorded prevailing party status by being awarded some relief by the court, even if only an award of nominal damages. Buckhannon, 532 U.S. at 603-04, 121 S.Ct. 1835; see also Me. Sch. Admin. Dist. No. 35, 321 F.3d at 15 (stating that a prevailing party must succeed on the merits of a claim or defense, but that a party may be considered `prevailing' even without obtaining a favorable final judgment on all (or even the most crucial) of her claims). Thus, [e]ssentially, in order to be considered a `prevailing party' after Buckhannon, a plaintiff must not only achieve some `material alteration of the legal relationship of the parties,' but that change must also be judicially sanctioned. Roberson v. Giuliani, 346 F.3d 75, 79 (2d Cir.2003). There is no question that the Shapiros prevailed on several significant aspects of their claim and were awarded money damages by the court. The district court did not abuse its discretion in determining that the Shapiros were the prevailing parties for IDEA purposes.
25 PVUSD contends that the amount of the award was unreasonable, arguing that the court's calculation was not based on the prevailing market rate. PVUSD complains that the $250/hour rate used by the court was higher than that typically charged by defense counsel in this area, and that there is no documentary support for the amount of the fee paid by the Shapiros. 26 The district court cited Local Rule 2.20 in finding that Walker's fee petition and his hourly rate of $250 were reasonable. Rule 2.20 sets forth a number of factors to consider in determining the reasonableness of a fee request. 7 U.S. Dist. Ct., D. Ariz., Rule 2.20(c)(3). The court reasoned that (1) the lawsuit was time consuming, fact intensive and procedurally complex; (2) Walker appeared in state administrative proceedings, state appeals, federal district court, and the Ninth Circuit; and (3) as a solo practitioner, Walker was limited in his ability to accept other employment. The court also affirmed Walker's hourly rate of $250, taking into consideration Walker's familiarity with the IDEA and the contingent nature of his fee agreement with the Shapiros. The court rejected PVUSD's assertion that the $250/hour rate was high because PVUSD had proffered no affidavits to support its statements. Finally, the court stated that PVUSD had unnecessarily prolonged litigation, increasing the costs of the lawsuit, by insisting on litigating whether CID provided an appropriate education for Dori. The court quoted the ALJ, who emphasized that CID specializes in educating children like Dori and that to contend that CID did not provide an appropriate education was simply grasping at straws. 27 PVUSD offers no argument that would support a finding that the district court abused its discretion. PVUSD merely repeats its unsupported assertion that the $250 hourly rate was higher than the rate charged by its own attorneys. 28 PVUSD also challenges the lack of a document memorializing the fee agreement between Walker and the Shapiros. The Shapiros, however, included an affidavit by Walker in which Walker described the fee agreement, in support of their motion for attorney's fees. The district court did not abuse its discretion in determining the amount of the fee award.