Opinion ID: 76461
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Aisenbergs' Application under Hyde Amendment

Text: 15 On March 26, 2001, the Aisenbergs moved for an award under the Hyde Amendment, which provides that the court may award attorney's fees and other litigation expenses if the court finds that the position of the United States was vexatious, frivolous, or in bad faith. Pub. L. No. 105-119, § 617, 111 Stat. 2440, 2519 (1997) (reprinted in 18 U.S.C. § 3006A, historical and statutory notes). 10 In response, the government conceded that an award of fees and litigation expenses was appropriate under the Hyde Amendment, but disputed the amount of fees owed. 16 At the government's request, the district court ordered that the parties participate in mediation. The mediator issued a June 13, 2002, report stating that the parties have reached an impasse. The parties then presented their Hyde Amendment arguments to the district court over a four-day hearing during October 2002. 17 On January 31, 2003, the district court awarded the Aisenbergs $2,680,602.22 in attorney's fees and $195,670.32 in litigation expenses under the Hyde Amendment. Although the government had conceded the applicability of the Hyde Amendment, the district court's order recounted at great length the events evincing the government's bad faith prosecution of the Aisenbergs. Aisenberg, 247 F.Supp.2d at 1275-87. 11 18 In the district court, the government emphasized that the Hyde Amendment subjects awards to the procedures and limitations provided for under 28 U.S.C. § 2412, which, the government pointed out, includes a $125 hourly limitation on attorney's fees in § 2412(d)(2)(A)(ii). Pub. L. No. 105-119, § 617, 111 Stat. 2440, 2519 (1997) (reprinted in 18 U.S.C. § 3006A, historical and statutory notes). The district court, however, agreed with the Aisenbergs (1) that they were not limited to this $125 hourly limitation in § 2412(d)(2)(A)(ii), but rather could recover rates up to $400 per hour as attorney's fees under § 2412(b), and (2) that even if § 2412(d)(2)(A)(ii) applied, special factors justified a departure from the $125 hourly limitation. The district court's award also included a fifteen percent multiplier of the attorney's fees, or $349,643.77, to compensate the Aisenbergs for the delay in the receipt of payment. 19 The district court's award was based on a total of 11,251.70 attorney hours by ten attorneys in the law firm of Cohen, Jayson & Foster, P.A. in Tampa, Florida, and on rates varying from $150 to $400 per attorney. On appeal, the government does not contest the 11,251.70 hours awarded or $195,670.32 in litigation expenses. Instead, the government contends that the district court erred (1) in not following the $125 hourly cap applicable under the Hyde Amendment, and (2) in awarding $349,643.77 as a fifteen percent enhancement for delay in payment.