Opinion ID: 492026
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Bifurcation of Phases of Litigation for Award of Attorney's Fees Under the FOIA

Text: 12 As a preliminary matter, appellants contend that the facts of this case require this Court to review the District Court's award of attorney's fees in a bifurcated fashion because the litigation allegedly occurred in two distinct phases, each with its own set of document releases. See Br. of Appellants at 8. Phase I encompasses actions that occurred after UCS filed its complaint and before the summary judgment proceedings were initiated. See, e.g., Br. of Appellee at 21 n. 29; Br. of Appellants at 4, 30. During this phase, the NRC administrative review of the FOIA request continued. 6 Id. Phase II begins with the cross-motions for summary judgment and focuses on 1,500 technical pages that the parties had agreed to put at issue and which the NRC withheld. This phase concluded when GE released eleven pages as a result of its settlement with UCS. J.A. at 151-61. 7 13 UCS urges this Court to reject the Commission's suggestion that the District Court was required to consider its fee petition in two distinct phases. Br. of Appellee at 22. First, it alleges that this decision as to bifurcation rests entirely within the District Court's discretion. Id. Second, UCS asserts that this case does not lend itself to the type of bifurcation suggested by Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 103 S.Ct. 1933, 76 L.Ed.2d 40 (1983), the case cited by the NRC in support of its bifurcation argument. In light of the need for the District Court to explain fully or to make further findings as to other aspects of the attorney's fee award, we do not pass upon the issue of bifurcation. 8