Opinion ID: 478410
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Fee for Appeals Work

Text: 32 Finally, plaintiffs complain that fees should have been awarded for work on the unsuccessful appeal in this case. We find no abuse of discretion. 33 It may be quite proper for a court to award fees for an unsuccessful appeal when the party claiming fees ultimately prevails on retrial. It may even be proper to award fees when the prospect of retrial can be shown to be the catalyst that induces a defendant finally to provide the practical relief a plaintiff seeks. But in this case, the litigants decided to abandon their claim after losing on appeal. They did so primarily because the trial itself produced the practical result they sought. Although they were prevailing parties in the case overall, it is clear that nothing associated with the appeal contributed to any favorable result achieved by the litigation. Accordingly, it was not an abuse of discretion for the district court to exclude these hours when determining a reasonable fee in light of the results achieved.