Opinion ID: 658772
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: During the Investigation

Text: 15 The statute provides reimbursement only for attorneys' fees incurred ... during [the independent counsel's] investigation. 28 U.S.C. Sec. 593(f)(1). Thus, as we have previously noted, Congress did not provide in section 593(f) for the payment of fees incurred prior to the appointment of independent counsel. In re Nofziger, 938 F.2d 1397, 1403 (D.C.Cir.1991). Because the fee award is a consent to suit by the United States, a sovereign otherwise absolutely immune, [t]he limitations and conditions that Congress imposes on [such a waiver] must be strictly observed. Id. (citing Soriano v. United States, 352 U.S. 270, 77 S.Ct. 269, 1 L.Ed.2d 306 (1957)). In an amendment to his application, Dutton has candidly agreed that $12,543.67 of his attorneys' fees and expenses were incurred prior to the appointment of the Independent Counsel on December 19, 1986, and he concedes that these must be deducted from the fees prayed.