Opinion ID: 387362
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Past Precedents in This Circuit

Text: 221 The proper method for determination of attorney's fees awards is a recent and developing area of the law, in which courts are still grasping for exact standards consistent with congressional intent. Over the past half dozen years this court has addressed the attorney's fees issue in several cases, each successive case attempting to systematize and sometimes modify the previous precedents. 222 In Evans v. Sheraton Park Hotel 2 we listed twelve factors that should be included in a district court determination of appropriate attorney's fees in Title VII cases. The twelve factors were taken from the Fifth Circuit's decision in Johnson v. Georgia Highway Express, Inc. 3 which had in turn drawn the standards from guidelines recommended by the American Bar Association's Code of Professional Responsibility, Ethical Consideration 2-18 and Disciplinary Rule 2-106. 223 In Kiser v. Huge 4 we endorsed these same standards taken from the Code of Professional Responsibility as well as the Manual for Complex Litigation, section 1.47. 5 And in Pete v. United Mine Workers 6 we incorporated the attorney's fees section of the panel opinion in Kiser. 224 Our opinion in National Treasury Employees Union v. Nixon, summarizing the analysis of Pete and Huge, listed the primary factors for consideration: hourly rate multiplied by hours, adjusted upward if there is a risk of noncompensation or partial compensation, and adjusted upward or downward on the basis of the quality of work performed as judged by the district court. 7 225