Opinion ID: 184437
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Fees for This Appeal

Text: Finally, the Trustees seek an award of the attorney's feesexpended in prosecuting this appeal. As a rule, in feedisputes, if an award of attorney's fees is appropriate in theunderlying litigation, such an award is also appropriate for asuccessful appeal (or defense of an appeal) of an issue relatingto the fee award itself. This is so because, for fee-shiftingprovisions to serve their purposes (which may include, depending on the particular provision at issue, improving accessto the courts, encouraging or discouraging certain types oflitigation, or making litigants whole), their beneficiaries mustbe assured that they will be able to collect the fee awards thatthey are due. See American Federation of GovernmentEmployees v. FLRA, 994 F.2d 20, 22 (D.C. Cir. 1993) (Nomatter what the purpose of an attorney's fee provision ...the availability of 'fees for fees' is essential to carrying outCongress's goal in including the provision in the first place.). This rule is fully applicable to fee awards under section1132(g)(2). See Building Service Local 47 Cleaning Contractors Pension Plan v. Grandview Raceway, 46 F.3d 1392, 1404(6th Cir.1995) (finding that fees for successful appeals ofattorney's fee disputes are recoverable under section1132(g)(2)); Operating Engineers Pension Trusts v. B & EBackhoe, Inc., 911 F.2d 1347, 1356 (9th Cir. 1990) (same). The Trustees cannot be said to be successful in their appealof the attorney's fee issue, however, until they establish onremand that their attorneys did indeed discount their fees forpublic-spirited reasons. Cf. Hanrahan v. Hampton, 446 U.S.754, 758-59 (1980) (party is a prevailing party under section1988 only by virtue of success on the merits, not success inobtaining remand on appeal); Waterman Steamship Corp. v. Maritime Subsidy Board, 901 F.2d 1119, 1122 (D.C. Cir.1990) (in a fee-shifting case under the Equal Access to JusticeAct, observing that award of EAJA fees for correctiveefforts that yield no real-world benefit would reduce thenormal deterrent to litigative nit-picking).15 If the Trusteesdo meet success on remand, the district court should make anadditional award of fees reflecting those legal expenses theTrustees incurred in their appeal of the attorney's fees issue(but not that of the audit fees issue).