Opinion ID: 1463318
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Weissburgs Are a Prevailing Party Under the IDEA

Text: We review de novo whether a party is a prevailing party. See V.S. v. Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High Sch., 484 F.3d 1230, 1232 (9th Cir.2007). The IDEA provides that the court may award reasonable attorneys' fees as part of the costs ... to a prevailing party who is the parent of a child with a disability. 20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(3)(B). A prevailing party is one who `succeed[s] on any significant issue in litigation which achieves some of the benefit the parties sought in bringing the suit.' Van Duyn v. Baker Sch. Dist. 5J, 502 F.3d 811, 825 (9th Cir.2007) (quoting Parents of Student W. v. Puyallup Sch. Dist., No. 3, 31 F.3d 1489, 1498 (9th Cir.1994)). This success must materially alter the legal relationship between the parties. Id. (citing Parents of Student W., 31 F.3d at 1498 and Park v. Anaheim Union High Sch. Dist., 464 F.3d 1025, 1034-37 (9th Cir.2006)). The district court concluded that the Weissburgs were not a prevailing party because a change in disability classification alone did not materially alter the legal relationship between Edward and the school district. The district court found dispositive the ALJ's conclusion that Edward had not been denied a FAPE because the IDEA does not provide a right to proper classification. For the reasons set forth below, we hold that the district court erred in concluding that the Weissburgs were not a prevailing party entitled to attorneys' fees under the IDEA.