Opinion ID: 406393
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Objective

Text: 23 In order to satisfy the first prong of the test, fee claimants must show that the objective sought to be accomplished by the intervention has been attained. One of the objectives of any intervening defendant in a section 5 declaratory judgment action is to prevent court approval of the plan or practice sought to be declared nondiscriminatory. At first glance, it would appear that any resolution of the suit that does not result in approval of the subject plan must be viewed as the attainment of this objective. 8 When the case becomes moot due to the preclearance of a plan that is not the subject of the suit, however, we must look beyond the threshold objective. It is conceivable that plaintiffs could submit to the Attorney General, and obtain preclearance approval of, a plan less advantageous to the intervenors' interests than the plan that is the subject of the suit. 9 Accordingly, the court must determine whether the final result represents, in a real sense, a disposition that furthers the interests of the defendant-intervenors. 24 On this point, we find the case of Bonnes v. Long, 599 F.2d 1316 (4th Cir. 1979), instructive. There, the Fourth Circuit noted that the prevailing party inquiry is properly a pragmatic one .... Its initial focus might well be on establishing the precise factual/legal condition that the fee claimant has sought to change or affect so as to gain a benefit or be relieved of a burden. Id. at 1319. The outcome, in whatever form it is realized, is measured against this benchmark; a comparison of the two must reveal an actual conferral of benefit or relief from a burden. Id. In the case at bar, the 1978 and 1979 Plans, as the benchmark, should be compared to the 1980 Plan, the outcome. If the interests of intervenors have been furthered by the differences shown among the plans, intervenors have been successful on the central issue in the litigation, Connor v. Winter, 519 F.Supp. 1337, 1342 (S.D.Miss.1981) (three-judge court), and the first prong of the test has been satisfied. 25 The above analysis necessarily implies that the County's argument that Garcia should not be awarded fees because the intervenor's proposed plan was not adopted must fail. Fee claimants under the Act need not show that they have prevailed on every aspect of the case or that their proposed plan was adopted in order to be found prevailing parties. See Ramos v. Koebig, 638 F.2d 838, 845 (5th Cir. 1981); Connor v. Winter, 519 F.Supp. at 1342. We believe, rather, that this argument is relevant to the equity of awarding fees and not to the prevailing party issue. 10 B. Substantial Factor 26 When a plaintiff seeks a fee award, the second prong of the inquiry is often couched in terms asking whether the lawsuit was a catalyst motivating defendants to provide the primary relief sought by the litigation, see, e.g., Robinson v. Kimbrough, 652 F.2d 458, 465 (5th Cir. 1981), or whether the lawsuit was a necessary factor in obtaining the relief. Id. See also Nadeau v. Helgemoe, 581 F.2d 275, 281 (1st Cir. 1978). When it is a defendant who seeks fees, however, it is obviously inappropriate to ask whether the lawsuit was a catalyst in achieving the result because, after all, the defendant did not institute the suit. 27 The court must make an objective assessment of the proceedings to determine whether the defense of the suit, e.g., the promise of an aggressive defense strategy or the spectre of extended litigation, led plaintiffs to take the action that resulted in the mooting of the case. Because this portion of the inquiry involves facts that are totally within the control of the plaintiffs, the court must rely on whatever objective data are available. For these purposes, it is useful for the court to consider the chronological sequence of events and draw conclusions from the facts at hand. See Robinson v. Kimbrough, 652 F.2d at 466; Nadeau v. Helgemoe, 581 F.2d at 281. 28 In determining whether the defense of the suit was a causal, necessary, or substantial factor in obtaining the result, two concerns mandate that the focus of the inquiry be on the collective accomplishments of both the named and the intervening defendants. First, in a case that involves multiple defendants and that has not proceeded to trial, it is almost impossible for the court to determine whose efforts persuaded the plaintiffs to abandon their litigation endeavors and take action that, if successful, would moot the case. Second, viewing all defendants' efforts collectively places suits that have not proceeded to final judgment on the same par with cases that have resulted in a final merits adjudication. 11 At this stage of the inquiry the court need only determine that the intervenors in fact actively participated in the proceedings. If the court finds that the record, in conjunction with the submissions of the parties on this issue, fairly shows that the plaintiffs' actions were in response to the opposition offered by both the named and intervening defendants in the case, the second prong of the test has been satisfied, and defendant-intervenors should be found to be prevailing parties. 29 A determination that a party has prevailed, however, means only that fee claimants are eligible for attorneys' fees. The court must then consider whether a fee award would be unjust under the particular circumstances of the case. S.Rep.No.295, 94th Cong., 1st Sess. 40 (1974). We believe that many of the arguments advanced by the County in this case are more relevant to this stage of the inquiry than to the prevailing party issue. 30 Accordingly, in the exercise of its discretionary function to determine whether an award of fees is just under the circumstances of this case, 12 the court should consider whether the net result achieved is so far from the position originally propounded by the fee claimants that it would be stretching the imagination to consider the result a victory in the sense of vindicating the rights of the fee claimants. If the victory can fairly be said to be only a pyrrhic one, then an award of fees would presumably be inappropriate. The court should also consider the divergence, if any, between the positions espoused by the named defendants and the intervenors. If there is a considerable difference in these two positions, and if the result obtained can be viewed as adopting only the position of the named defendants, this factor would add considerable support to a finding that, although the result furthers the intervenors' interests, an award of fees to them would be unjust. 31 In addition, we believe it proper for the court to consider whether the defendant-intervenors' participation was necessary to protect their interests and furthered the public policy embodied in the Voting Rights Act. A determination of this nature is usually made at the time intervention is sought and normally will not require reevaluation unless some evidence to the contrary has come to light during the interim. 13 32 It is at this point that the court should also consider whether a fee claimant's efforts had its own independent impact on the particular outcome of the case. It is not sufficient that intervenors were parties whose interests were furthered by the result achieved. Fee claimants must show that their participation in the case was not passive and that it was not a mere duplication of the efforts expended by the United States. 14 Our discussion of factors to be considered in this context is not, of course, intended to be an exhaustive list of relevant concerns.