22 results for 'cat:"Public Record" AND cat:"Attorney Fees"'.
J. Mackey finds that the lower court improperly reduced counsel fees awarded after plaintiff prevailed in claims seeking information from police relating to an alleged trespassing incident because the flat $5,000 award, reduced from the combined $33,300 sought by two attorneys, rendered the hourly rate more conforming to the locality without accounting for the hours put in. Instead, $12,100 should have been awarded, plus costs incurred. Reversed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Mackey, Filed On: April 11, 2024, Case #: CV-23-1044, Categories: public Record, attorney Fees
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that the lower court improperly awarded the press $114,000 in attorneys fees in its FOIA suit against the police department seeking records concerning a traffic accident. This appeals court previously held that the police department had a reasonable basis for denying access to the requested records, so it is not entitled to attorney fees for work performed prior to the department's production of records. However, the court properly granted fees and costs arising from the police department's noncompliance with this court's prior order, and for contempt proceedings stemming from the department's months-long delay in disclosing responsive documents. Reversed in part.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 19, 2024, Case #: 01511, Categories: public Record, attorney Fees
J. Schutz finds the censure of the trustee during an executive session by the board of trustees constituted a formal action by the board because it implicated public concerns and would affect the town at large. Therefore, the action violated the Colorado Open Meetings Law because it was not conducted in a public session and the lower court erroneously denied the trustee's motion for summary judgment. On remand, the lower court is ordered to enter a judgment to declare the censure void and award reasonable attorney fees to the trustee. Reversed.
Court: Colorado Court Of Appeals, Judge: Schutz, Filed On: February 22, 2024, Case #: 2024COA18, Categories: Government, public Record, attorney Fees
J. Lamberth grants $17,000 in attorney fees and costs to a group following its Freedom of Information Act case against the IRS seeking records related to alleged meetings between the agency's commissioner and FTX, "a famously scandal-ridden and now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange." The IRS repeatedly refused to process the request and, although it failed to find responsive records, the group is considered the prevailing party following the FOIA litigation.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Lamberth, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv340, NOS: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) - Other Suits, Categories: public Record, Tax, attorney Fees
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Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court properly denied attorney fees and costs to plaintiff, who substantially prevailed in claims seeking FBI records in which he had been named. The court did not abuse its discretion in applying precedent because public benefit would be negligible since the information was rooted in a private interest. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: January 29, 2024, Case #: 23-137-cv, Categories: public Record, attorney Fees
J. Fields finds that the trial court erred in awarding attorney fees and costs petitioner incurred after she rejected a settlement offer. Petitioner sought declaratory relief because a city denied her public records request for a crime victim's name. Before trial, the city provided the name and $2,500 for fees and costs that petitioner incurred up to that point. She was the prevailing party because she was the catalyst for the disclosure. But she is not entitled to $40,000 in fees and costs incurred after the offer, which was unambiguous and enforceable. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Fields, Filed On: January 24, 2024, Case #: E079840, Categories: public Record, Settlements, attorney Fees
J. Pohlman holds that the district court must reconsider its denial of attorney fees to a reporter who intervened in a county commissioner's challenge to a release of public records. On remand, the district court should broaden its reading of the attorney fee provision of the Government Records Access and Management Act, which does not necessarily bar fee awards to third-party intervenors, and address whether the reporter substantially prevailed and whether her fees and costs were reasonable. Also, the reporter's court filing satisfied the Act's requirement that a records requester provide a statement of position to the records holder 20 days before incurring the attorney fees the reporter seeks to recover. Reversed.
Court: Utah Supreme Court, Judge: Pohlman, Filed On: January 11, 2024, Case #: 20220738, Categories: public Record, attorney Fees
Per curiam, the Supreme Court of Ohio finds the Cedar Point Police Department, created for and employed exclusively by a theme park, is required to respond to public records requests filed by news organizations. While it was not created by a state or local government, it serves as the functional equivalent of a public office through its law enforcement activity. Therefore, the news entities in this case are entitled to a limited writ of mandamus to compel production of documents related to incidents of alleged sexual abuse at the park's housing facilities, as well as reports related to an injury that occurred near one of the park's rollercoasters, but they will not be awarded attorney fees or statutory damages.
Court: Ohio Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: December 20, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-4593, Categories: public Record, attorney Fees
J. Ceresia finds that the lower court improperly dismissed portions of defendant's request for documents withheld or redacted in a Freedom of Information Law filing stemming from the denial of executive clemency on his murder conviction. Information that would have invaded personal privacy or endangered an individual should have been withheld, and defendant should have been awarded litigation costs, since he substantially prevailed in the proceeding. Reversed in part.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Ceresia, Filed On: November 22, 2023, Case #: CV-22-2357, Categories: public Record, Privacy, attorney Fees
J. Davenport finds that the lower court properly awarded the man statutory attorney fees after his Freedom of Information Act suit prompted the city to produce the requested documents. On the record, filing a lawsuit was reasonably necessary to obtain the requested documents, but the court acted within its discretion by reducing the requested amount of $62,000 to $20,000. Affirmed.
Court: Illinois Appellate Court, Judge: Davenport, Filed On: October 17, 2023, Case #: 220392, Categories: public Record, attorney Fees
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that the lower court improperly denied the requestor's application for attorneys' fees in a Freedom of Information Law suit. The real of Civil Rights Law 50-a applies retroactively to police disciplinary records created prior to June 12, 2020. Therefore, the police department had no reasonable basis for denying access to the requested records for more than one year. Reversed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: October 12, 2023, Case #: 05193, Categories: public Record, attorney Fees
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that the lower court properly denied the press outlet's request for costs and attorneys' fees in a Freedom of Information Act suit. The information sought by the outlet was not maintained by the city, and the city was not required to create a new record in order to comply with the request, although it ultimately chose to do so. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: October 10, 2023, Case #: 05098, Categories: public Record, attorney Fees
J. Horton finds that the lower court properly awarded attorney fees to the Human Rights Defense Center after ruling that the risk pool "had refused in bad faith" to comply with a records request. The risk pool's failure to produce records "constituted a bad-faith refusal," so the attorney fees are warranted. Affirmed.
Court: Maine Supreme Court, Judge: Horton, Filed On: August 22, 2023, Case #: 2023ME56, Categories: public Record, attorney Fees
J. Do finds that the trial court properly denied attorney fees to an individual who sought records under the Public Records Act. He cannot be considered the prevailing party since the evidence shows his lawsuit was not the substantial cause of a city's compliance with his request, and the timing of his complaint and the city's production did not establish the required causal connection for a fee award. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Do, Filed On: August 8, 2023, Case #: D080133, Categories: public Record, attorney Fees
J. Mercier finds that the trial court properly dismissed an individual's injunctive relief action seeking to force a Georgia Tech professor to produce documents pursuant to Georgia's Open Records Act. The individual sought materials collected or prepared in relation to any DARPA contract awarded to Georgia Tech, the hack of the Democratic National Committee and any white papers provided to the Department of Justice. The request was not properly submitted to Georgia Tech's designated open records officer. However, the trial court improperly awarded $53,000 in attorney fees to the professor before holding an evidentiary hearing. Affirmed in part.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: Mercier, Filed On: August 4, 2023, Case #: A23A1163, Categories: public Record, attorney Fees
J. Bolden finds the Court of Appeals improperly found journalists, who were denied Department of Corrections recordings of a prisoner altercation resulting in an inmate’s death, prevailed only in part and are not entitled to attorney fees. Pro bono representation is not an appropriate consideration in determining the reasonableness of attorney fees. The Court of Claims correctly found that the journalists were entitled to fees, though it improperly reduced the fees. The Court of Appeals judgment is reversed. The Court of Claims’ judgment is vacated and remanded to reassess the reasonableness of the attorney fees.
Court: Michigan Supreme Court, Judge: Bolden, Filed On: July 26, 2023, Case #: 163382, Categories: public Record, attorney Fees, Prisoners' Rights
J. Boasberg awards $111,000 in attorney fees to an individual following her Freedom of Information Act case against the Army for records related to its mental-fitness questionnaire for soldiers. Although she substantially prevailed on her claims, her requested fees are reduced, in part, for her failure to prevail during certain phases of the case.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Boasberg, Filed On: July 5, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv1670, NOS: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) - Other Suits, Categories: public Record, attorney Fees
J. Patterson finds that the appellate division properly held that a media group was entitled to a redacted version of internal affairs files but properly denied the group attorney fees since common law right of access claims are not excluded from the American Rule on public records. Affirmed in part.
Court: New Jersey Supreme Court, Judge: Patterson , Filed On: June 20, 2023, Case #: A-63-21, Categories: public Record, attorney Fees
J. McFadden grants a trauma center's motion for attorney fees following its successful Freedom of Information Act case against the Department of Homeland Security. Its requested $200,000 in fees is reduced to $106,000 due, in part, to ambiguous billing and the need for a lower hourly rate.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: McFadden, Filed On: May 16, 2023, Case #: 1:20cv1128, NOS: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) - Other Suits, Categories: Immigration, public Record, attorney Fees