Opinion ID: 444675
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Timeliness of Ms. O'Donnell's Application For Attorney's Fees

Text: 34 The clerk of the district court entered judgment against the Hospital on July 5, 1983. The judgment did not award attorney's fees. On July 25, Ms. O'Donnell filed a request for attorney's fees. She filed an itemization of fees forty-four days after the entry of judgment. The district court granted the request by his order of September 23, 1983. The Hospital insists that Ms. O'Donnell's application for attorney's fees was untimely and should have been denied. The parties agree that the disposition of this contention hinges upon the applicability and construction of Local Rule 420 of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia: 35 Any party seeking an award of attorney's fees pursuant to the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Award Act of 1976, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1988, must file a motion accompanied by briefs and appropriate affidavits seeking such recovery within fifteen (15) days of the entry of the final judgment as to the party seeking such award. 36 Failure to comply with the provisions of this rule will be construed as a waiver and abandonment of any claims to recover attorney's fees pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1988. 37 The district court held that this provision did not apply to an application for attorney's fees under the ADEA. We decline the invitation to dispute that court's construction of its own rule. In the absence of a controlling local rule, only unfair surprise or prejudice may render untimely a postjudgment motion for attorney's fees. Brown v. City of Palmetto, Georgia, 681 F.2d 1325, 1327 (11th Cir.1982). The Hospital has failed to make a showing of unfair surprise or prejudice. We therefore affirm the district court's award of attorney's fees. The district court may on remand, however, modify the amount awarded.B. Appellate Attorney's Fees 38 Ms. O'Donnell has moved that she be awarded attorney's fees for this appeal. Appellate attorney's fees may be awarded pursuant to the remedial provisions of the FLSA that Congress incorporated into the ADEA when the appellate court considers such an award appropriate. Montalvo v. Tower Life Building, 426 F.2d 1135, 1150 (5th Cir.1970). We may make our own assessment of the amount of such fees to be awarded. Id. We choose, however, to instruct the district court on remand to assess the amount of attorney's fees to be awarded Ms. O'Donnell for this appeal. See id. at 1151. 39 AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, and REMANDED.