Opinion ID: 387362
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Similar Problems for the Public Interest and Civil Rights Bar

Text: 321 A similar claim is made for these specialists, alleging that the public interest and civil rights firms operate under far lower salary, overhead, and profit margins than others in private practice. The argument is made that somehow cost plus reasonable profit penalizes these firms. 322 The answer is the same as to a small firm or solo practitioner. They will be guaranteed a reasonable profit above their actual costs. We are not aware that public interest and civil rights firms usually receive more than this. However, the trial court could-and, in our view, should -evaluate the special skills which a public interest or civil rights firm may bring to bear among the other quality factors which the court applies to the actual cost plus reasonable profit figures. If the attorneys are specialists in Title VII cases, and thus may have been able to do the work at a high standard with a minimum of hours expended, then their profit in the total compensation awarded should indeed be higher than it otherwise would.