Opinion ID: 28771
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Delay Enhancement

Text: Following the district court’s judgment on the fees and costs request, the Appellees moved for a delay enhancement in a motion to alter or amend the judgment filed pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 59(e). The district court denied the motion. On appeal, the Appellees argue that the delay enhancement should be granted to compensate for the approximately two year (that is, up to the present time) delay in payment. Denial of a Rule 59(e) motion to amend or alter a judgment is generally reviewed for abuse of discretion. Fletcher v. Apfel, 210 F.3d 510, 512 (5th Cir. 2000). Issues that are purely questions of law are, however, reviewed de novo. See id. In the instant case, the Appellees did not request the delay enhancement in their original motion for attorneys’ fees, although they did request a lodestar enhancement, which was denied. Their Rule 59(e) motion was not a motion to reconsider the judgment on its merits, rather it was a motion to consider a new issue. The Appellees do not argue that the district court erred in a question of law. The district court’s application of the law to the facts is therefore subject to an abuse of discretion standard of review. The Appellees have not addressed 56 the standard of review for this issue and have not shown that the district court abused its discretion. The Appellees’ concession that the district court’s calculation of the lodestar amount was not an abuse of discretion weighs against finding in their favor on the delay enhancement issue. See Walker, 99 F.3d at 773 (district court may either grant unenhanced lodestar based on current rates or calculate lodestar using rates applicable when work was done and grant delay enhancement, but not both). The district court already awarded the Appellees $50,000 in attorneys’ fees and $2,500 in costs for this appeal. We affirm the district court’s denial of a delay enhancement.