Opinion ID: 588801
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Disproportion

Text: 62 Appellants contend that the attorney fee award is grossly disproportionate to the one dollar damage award, particularly in light of the damages demanded. The amount of the monetary recovery is certainly [a] relevant factor to be considered in setting the size of an attorney fee, Rivera, 477 U.S. at 574, 106 S.Ct. at 2694 (plurality op.); Foley, 948 F.2d at 19-20 (amount of damages relevant to determination of reasonable fee; fee may be reduced when amount of damages sought is large but recovery small); Home Placement Serv., Inc. v. Providence Journal Co., 819 F.2d 1199, 1210 (1st Cir.1987) (recovery of only nominal damages can be cause for reducing a fee award if the litigation is not otherwise significant) (Clayton Act case); Perez, 600 F.2d at 2 (nominal damage award one factor that may affect amount of fee). 63 Nevertheless, disproportion alone does not render an award unreasonable, Rivera, 477 U.S. at 574, 106 S.Ct. at 2694 (plurality op.); id. at 585, 106 S.Ct. at 2699 (Powell, J., concurring); Foley v. City of Lowell, Mass., 948 F.2d 10, 20 (1st Cir.1991) (reasonable fee may exceed damage recovery several times over), and a judgment for nominal damages may warrant a substantial fee award. Aubin v. Fudala, 782 F.2d 287, 290-91 (1st Cir.1986) (suggesting intrinsic value in simple declaration of violations of federal law.); Perez, 600 F.2d at 2 n. 2 (policy of awarding nominal fees for recovery of nominal damages would handicap those seeking to assert civil rights to the same extent as denying fees altogether); see also Ruggiero v. Krzeminski, 928 F.2d 558, 564 (2d Cir.1991) (upholding $12,833.34 fee based on $1.00 damage award); Allen v. Higgins, 902 F.2d 682, 684-85 (8th Cir.1990) ($10,000 fee based on $1.00 damage award); Home Placement Serv., 819 F.2d at 1212 (awarding $16,989 for portion of litigation relating to nominal damage award); McCann v. Coughlin, 698 F.2d 112, 129 (2d Cir.1983) (that successful procedural due process claimant who recovered $1.00 damage award did not warrant reduction in attorney fee award of almost $50,000). 36 64