Mаry Jane Ruderman HIRSCHEY, Petitioner, v. FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, Respondent, Long Lake Energy Corporation, Intervenor.
No. 82-2170.
United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit.
Nov. 15, 1985.
777 F.2d 1
Jerome M. Feit, Ellen K. Schall and Andrea Wolfman, Washington, D.C. were on response to motion for attorneys’ fees and expenses.
Before EDWARDS and SCALIA, Circuit Judges, and VAN DUSEN,* Senior Circuit Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
ON MOTION FOR ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND EXPENSES
Oрinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge HARRY T. EDWARDS.
Concurring opinion filed by Circuit Judge SCALIA.
HARRY T. EDWARDS, Circuit Judge:
The petitioner, Mary Jane Ruderman Hirschey, seeks an award of attorneys’ fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act (“EAJA“)1 as the prevailing party in a case
I. BACKGROUND
The case underlying this fee petition concerned Hirschey‘s claim for an exemption from the licensing requirements of the FPA in ordеr to develop a small hydroelectric project. Petitioner filed an application for an exemption in December, 1981, which became effective on June 7, 1982. On July 20, 1982, the Commission, sua sponte, issued an order vacating the petitioner‘s exemption. Hirschey subsequently filed a petition for review with this court, which was dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative procedures.5 After a futile attempt to file a petition for rehearing with the Commissiоn, Hirschey filed a second petition for review with this court. On this second attempt, we upheld her claim to an exemption in Hirschey I.6 Petitioner then applied in a timely fashion for an award of attorneys’ fees and costs pursuant to EAJA.
Due to a paperwork error in the Court Clerk‘s office, consideration of the petitioner‘s EAJA claim was greatly delayed. In Hirschey II,7 we held that attorneys’ fees may be granted under EAJA in a case arising under the FPA, although sectiоn 317 of the FPA8 bars an award of costs.9
** Sitting by designation pursuant toWe also determined that the petitioner is eligible for a fee award under EAJA10 for proceedings at the judicial level and established a timetable for additional filings and for discovery by the Government. We remanded the petitioner‘s request for fees for proceedings at the agency level for consideration and initial determination by the Commission.11
II. DISCUSSION
A. Eligible Hours
The petitioner requests this court to assess fees against the Government for four sеparate stages of the proceedings in this case. First, she claims that certain aspects of her representation before the agency were necessarily related to the issues successfully raised on appeal and that she is entitled to recover for this portion of the proceedings before FERC. We clearly rejected this claim in Hirschey II when we remanded the matter for initial determination by the Commission.
Second, the petitioner submits the hours spent on her first unsuccessful appeal to this court. Because this appeal was dismissed as premature, petitioner was not a “prevailing party”12 in the action. Petitioner thus fails to meet the EAJA requirements13 for an award of fees for her initial appeal. The Commission concedes that some of the legal research done for the unsuccessful appeal was useful in Hirschey I and should be compensated. We agree, and find that, of the hours in question, 35.55 hours of research (21.5 partner and 14.05 associate) are related to Hirschey I and eligible for a fee award.
Third, Hirschey has documented the hours spent on the appeal in Hirschey I between September 20, 1982, and March 1, 1983. In discovery, the Commission identified certain hours that were related to proceedings before the agency and to Hirschey‘s unsuccessful effort to oppose intervention by Long Lake Energy Corporation. We have eliminated those hours and determine that 319.5 partner hours and 8.6 associate hours are reasonably compensable for this stage of the proceedings.
Fourth, the petitioner requests fees for work connected with the EAJA fee application. Cases in this Circuit have routinely awarded reasonable fees incurred in requesting fees under fee-shifting statutes,14 and we find that Hirschey should receive fees for expenses incurred in her successful EAJA аction.15 Although the
B. The Appropriate Rate
The appropriate rate for “fees or other expenses” under EAJA,
(2) for the purposes of this subsection—
(A) “fees and other expenses” includes ... reasonable attorney fees (The amount of fees awarded under this subsection shall be based upon prevailing market rates for the kind and quality of the services furnished, except that ... (ii) attorney fees shall not be awarded in excess of $75 per hour unless the court determines that an increase in the cost of living or a special factor, such as the limited availability of qualified attorneys for the proceedings involved, justifies a higher fee.);
The petitioner claims that the $75 per hour statutory cap should be adjusted upward for cost-of-living increases and for special factors in the litigation. We agree that the statutory maximum on fees should be increased to reflect changes in the cost-of-living. We also note that this court has held in EAJA claims that we may look beyond the single factor stipulated in the statute to special factors, such as “the contingent nature of success, delay in payment or quality of representation,” in determining whether to adjust the statutory cap.16 We find that delay in payment is the only special factor that warrants an increase in the statutory rate in this case.
The petitioner urges that an additional increase in the fee award is appropriate because the delay caused by the Commission‘s illegal conduct has added to her costs for developing her hydropower project. This argument misconstrues the purposes of EAJA. The fee limitation reflects an attempt to provide reasonable compensation for successful litigants, while simultaneously containing costs.17 EAJA does not provide general indemnification against the consequences of litigation or of agency action.
We likewise find inapposite the petitioner‘s claim that ex parte contacts between a FERC Commissioner and parties with interests opposed to petitioner‘s on the issue of FPA exemptions constitutes bad faith by the Commission which justifies a rate increase. Bad faith sometimes may be a consideration under subsection 2412(b), but the question of impermissible ex parte contacts was not an issue in either Hirschey I or Hirschey II, and the belated attempt to raise the question now is unavailing. The award to petitioner is therefore limited to a recovery of fees under
We also reject the petitioner‘s invo-
As noted above, petitioner‘s request for a cost-of-living increase in the $75 rate is an appropriate adjustment as authorized by subsection 2412(d)(2) of EAJA. We reject the Commission‘s argument that recent amendments to EAJA,21 which did not alter the $75 fee limit, compel us to regard that amount as fully compensatory and deny a cost-of-living increase.22 First, the original enactment of EAJA applies to this case.23 Second, even if the amendmеnts applied, they do not alter any aspect of
We should emphasize here that the statutory cost-of-living adjustment authorized by subsection 2412(d)(2) increases the maximum rate designated in the same subsection, not the attorneys’ prevailing market ratе. The $89.73 reflects this adjustment. In the instant case there is no dispute that both the actual billed rate and the prevail-
We recognize that there is arguably a question whether we should limit the fees for the hours billed each year by the adjusted statutory maximum applicable for that year, or rather limit them only by the current statutory maximum. We will adopt the latter approach, in order to compensate petitioner for delay, as we are authorized to do under the “special factors” criterion in EAJA.27
Pursuant to the foregoing findings and conclusions, the petitioner is due a total of $68,198.98 in attorneys’ fees.
C. Expenses
Under the category of expenses, the petitioner seeks payment for work performed by paralegals, consultant fees, a portion of secretarial expenses and office overhead and “out-of-pocket” expenses such as photocopying, postage, taxi fares and secretarial overtime. EAJA provides that awardable expenses “include[] the reasonable expenses of expert witnesses, [and] the reasonable cost of any study, analysis, engineering report, test or project which is found by the court to be necessary for the preparation of the party‘s case.”28 We have previously found that expenses such as postage and taxi fares are not comрensable under EAJA,29 and in Hirschey II we held that the FPA precludes an award of costs, which include photocopying and filing fees.30 These claims do not merit further discussion.
We also reject the petitioner‘s claim for overhead and secretarial expenses, which are traditionally covered by attorneys’ fees and not charged separately. The engineering consultant fees for which Hirschey seeks reimbursement were not relevant to the resolution of either Hirschey I or Hirschey II; therefore, no еxpenses may be awarded for the consultant‘s work.
The Commission does not object to compensation for work by paralegals as an expense item or to the rate the petitioner suggests, which we find reasonable. When the hours performed by paralegals on the first appeal are reduced to those related to the successful appeal, the petitioner is entitled to an award for 285.6 hours at $30 per hour. In addition, a charge of $142.61 for computer research is appropriate.
In sum, we award the petitioner a total of $8710.61 in expenses.
III. CONCLUSION
For the reasons discussed above, we award the petitioner a total of $76,909.59 in attorneys’ fees and expenses.
So ordered.
SCALIA, Circuit Judge, concurring:
Although I dissented in Hirschey II, believing that the EAJA did not apply to the present case, since the court held otherwise I have participated in this subsequent consideration of what the amount of the EAJA award should be. I join the court‘s opinion with the exception of the dictum discussed below. I write separately principally to clarify several points in the current opinion related to my earlier dissent.
I agree that the petitioner can be compensated for the attorneys’ fees expended in litigating her right to attorneys’ fees, even though the “substantial justification” defense to the assessment of EAJA fees, see
The language of sectiоn 2412(d)(1)(A) expresses the view that prevailing parties shall be awarded attorney‘s fees and, when available, costs as well. This interpretation ratifies the approach taken by four circuits. [Citing, inter alia, Hirschey II.] ... Thus, the Committee rejects the interpretations of the statute by the 9th Circuit. See Tulalip Tribes....
H.R. REP. No. 120, 99th Cong., 1st Sess. 17 (1985), 1985 U.S.CODE CONG. & AD.NEWS 132, 145. It is most interesting that the House Committee rejected the interpretation of the Ninth Circuit, and perhaps that datum should be accorded the wеight of an equivalently unreasoned law review article. But the authoritative, as opposed to the persuasive, weight of the Report depends entirely upon how reasonable it is to assume that that rejection was reflected in the law which Congress adopted. I frankly doubt that it is ever reasonable to assume that the details, as opposed to the broad outlines of purpose, set forth in a committee report come to the attention of, much less are approved by, the house which enacts the committee‘s bill.1 And I think it time for courts to
In sum, even if the 1985 EAJA amendments had been relevant to our determination in Hirschey II, I think the question should still have been resolved, as it was, not on the basis of what the committee report said, but on the basis of what we judged to be the most rational reconciliation of the relevant provisions of law Congress had adopted. I was disappointed that the court did not reconcile them as I would have, but I at least had the comfort, which implementation of the dictum here under discussion would deny me, of thinking that the court was wrong for the right reason.
Notes
Mr. ARMSTRONG. ... My question, which may take [the chairman of the Committee on Finance] by surprise, is this: Is it the intention of the chairman that the Internal Revenue Service and the Tax Court and other courts take guidance as to the intention of Congress from the committee report which accompanies this bill?
Mr. DOLE. I would certainly hope so....
Mr. ARMSTRONG. Mr. President, will the Senator tell me whether or not he wrote the committee report?
Mr. DOLE. Did I write the committee report?
Mr. ARMSTRONG. Yes.
Mr. DOLE. No; the Senator from Kansas did not write the сommittee report.
Mr. ARMSTRONG. Did any Senator write the committee report?
Mr. DOLE. I have to check.
Mr. ARMSTRONG. Does the Senator know of any Senator who wrote the committee report?
Mr. DOLE. I might be able to identify one, but I would have to search. I was here all during the time it was written, I might say, and worked carefully with the staff as they worked....
Mr. ARMSTRONG. Mr. President, has the Senator from Kansas, the chairman of the Finance Committee, read the committee report in its entirety?
Mr. DOLE. I am working on it. It is not a bestseller, but I am working on it.
Mr. ARMSTRONG. Mr. President, did members of the Finance Committee vote on the committee report?
Mr. DOLE. No.
Mr. ARMSTRONG. Mr. President, the reason I raise the issue is not perhaps apparent on the surface, and let me just state it: ... The report itself is not considered by the Committee on Finance. It was not subject to amendment by the Committee on Finance. It is not subject to amendment now by the Senate.
... If there were matter within this report which was disagreed to by the Senator from Colorado or even by a majority of all Senаtors, there would be no way for us to change the report. I could not offer an amendment tonight to amend the committee report.
... [F]or any jurist, administrator, bureaucrat, tax practitioner, or others who might chance upon the written record of this proceeding, let me just make the point that this is not the law, it was not voted on, it is not subject to amendment, and we should discipline ourselves to the task of expressing congressional intent in the statute.
128 CONG.REC. S8659 (daily ed. July 19, 1982).