Opinion ID: 3038349
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Whether Woodside or Pardini Constitutes the

Text: Governing Precedent With Respect to the Issue of Whether an Attorney-Parent May Recover Attorney’s Fees Pursuant to the IDEA Finally, we reject the Pardinis’ argument that our first decision in Pardini rather than our still earlier decision in Woodside governs the question of whether an attorney-parent asserting claims pursuant to the IDEA on behalf of his minor child can recover attorney’s fees pursuant to the statute. It is clear that even if our decision on the Pardinis’ first appeal contravened Woodside by instructing the District Court to grant attorney’s fees (which, as we have explained, it did not do), and the District Court by reason of that opinion and the accompanying judgment was required to award David Pardini 10 attorney’s fees,1 we must follow Woodside on this appeal. Section 9.1 of the Internal Operating Procedures (“IOPs”) of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals provides: Policy of Avoiding Intra-circuit Conflict of Precedent. It is the tradition of this court that the holding of a panel in a precedential opinion is binding on subsequent panels. Thus, no subsequent panel overrules the holding in a precedential opinion of a previous panel. Court en banc consideration is required to do so. Third Circuit IOP 9.1. Accordingly, “[t]his Circuit has long held that if its cases conflict, the earlier is the controlling authority and the latter is ineffective as precedents.” United States v. Rivera, 365 F.3d 213, 213 (3d Cir. 2004) (declining to use the standard of review set forth in a case within the circuit because that case “never acknowledged that the precedents [within the circuit] used [a different standard of review]” and did not “explain why [the Court] broke with those precedents”); see also Holland v. N. J. Dep’t of Corrections, 246 F.3d 267, 278 (3d Cir. 2001) (“[T]o the extent that [a case within the circuit] is read to be inconsistent with earlier case law, the earlier case law . . . controls”); O. Hommel Co. v. Ferro Corp., 659 F.2d 340, 354 (3d Cir. 1981) (“[A] panel of this court cannot overrule a prior 1 Judge Roth does not believe that the District Court on remand would have been compelled to award the fees in view of the fact that Woodside was binding on subsequent panels of this Court and the District Court would have to take account of that fact and rule in a manner that was consistent with Circuit precedent. Moreover, if the case had returned to us on a subsequent appeal, we would have had to overturn the District Court’s award of attorney’s fees in view of the binding nature of the Woodside decision. Thus, judicial economy would suggest that the District Court on remand rule, as it did, consistently with Woodside. 11 panel precedent. To the extent that [the later case] is inconsistent with [the earlier case, the later case] must be deemed without effect.”) (internal citations omitted). Clearly our Internal Operating Procedures and precedents provide for an approach which differs from that used in the situation in which there are two irreconcilable statutes in which circumstance the second will be deemed to impliedly repeal the first. Branch v. Smith, 538 U.S. 254, 273, 123 S.Ct. 1429, 1441 (2003). Therefore, inasmuch as our decision in Woodside addressed the same issue which we now face in this case, we are bound by the holding in Woodside regardless of any conflicting language, if there is any, in a subsequent decision by another panel of this Court.2 Inasmuch as a panel of this Court rather than the Court en banc issued our earlier decision in Pardini, the decision could not overturn our holding in Woodside, even if the panel sought to do that. See Third Circuit IOP 9.1. In reaching our result we have not overlooked the law of the case doctrine which provides that “one panel of an appellate court generally will not reconsider questions that another panel has decided on a prior appeal in the same case.” In re City of Phila. Litig., 158 F.3d 711, 717 (3d Cir. 1998). Rather, we recognize that the doctrine does not apply in the extraordinary circumstance when “the earlier decision was clearly erroneous and would create manifest injustice.” Id. at 718. Certainly, in view of Woodside if the panel in the original Pardini appeal had intended to award attorney’s fees the decision would have been clearly erroneous in light of IOP 9.1 and we would not be required to follow it. In any event, there is at the very least “substantial doubt” that the original Pardini panel decided the attorney’s fees issue and thus we are not foreclosed from deciding it. See United Artists Theatre Circuit, Inc. v. Twp. of Warrington, 316 F.3d 392, 398 (3d Cir. 2003). (“Where there is 2 Of course, the situation would be different if there was a later statutory change in the controlling statutory law after our earlier opinion or if the Supreme Court filed an opinion inconsistent with our earlier opinion. 12 substantial doubt as to whether a prior panel actually decided an issue, the later panel should not be foreclosed from considering the issue.”).