Hensley v. Eckerhart
E823907
Hensley v. Eckerhart is a landmark 1983 U.S. Supreme Court decision that established the modern standard for determining reasonable attorney’s fee awards for prevailing parties in civil rights litigation.
Statements (49)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf | United States Supreme Court case ⓘ |
| appliesTo |
civil rights actions under 42 U.S.C. § 1983
ⓘ
other federal statutes with fee-shifting provisions modeled on 42 U.S.C. § 1988 ⓘ |
| citation |
103 S. Ct. 1933
ⓘ
461 U.S. 424 ⓘ 76 L. Ed. 2d 40 ⓘ |
| concurrenceBy |
Harry A. Blackmun
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
John Paul Stevens NERFINISHED ⓘ Thurgood Marshall NERFINISHED ⓘ William J. Brennan Jr. NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| concurrenceType | concurrence in part and dissent in part ⓘ |
| country |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| court | Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ |
| decisionDate | 1983-05-16 ⓘ |
| defendant | Eckerhart NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| docketNumber | 81-1244 ⓘ |
| holding |
A prevailing plaintiff in a civil rights action should ordinarily recover attorney’s fees unless special circumstances would render such an award unjust.
ⓘ
Courts should provide a concise but clear explanation of their reasons for fee awards. ⓘ District courts have discretion to reduce fee awards to account for limited success. ⓘ Fee applicants bear the burden of documenting the appropriate hours expended and hourly rates. ⓘ Related claims involving a common core of facts or related legal theories should generally be treated as one lawsuit for fee purposes. ⓘ The most critical factor in determining the reasonableness of a fee award is the degree of success obtained. ⓘ Unrelated unsuccessful claims should be excluded from the fee calculation. ⓘ Where a plaintiff achieves only partial or limited success, the product of hours reasonably expended on the litigation as a whole times a reasonable hourly rate may be an excessive amount. ⓘ |
| influenced | subsequent federal fee-shifting jurisprudence ⓘ |
| issue |
standard for determining reasonable attorney’s fees for prevailing parties in civil rights litigation
ⓘ
treatment of partially successful plaintiffs in fee awards ⓘ treatment of related and unrelated claims in fee calculations ⓘ |
| joinedByInMajority |
Byron R. White
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Harry A. Blackmun NERFINISHED ⓘ Sandra Day O’Connor NERFINISHED ⓘ Thurgood Marshall NERFINISHED ⓘ Warren E. Burger NERFINISHED ⓘ William H. Rehnquist NERFINISHED ⓘ William J. Brennan Jr. NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| jurisdiction | federal ⓘ |
| languageOfOpinion | English NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| legalArea |
attorney’s fees
ⓘ
civil procedure ⓘ civil rights law ⓘ |
| majorityOpinionBy | Lewis F. Powell Jr. NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| originatingCourt | United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| partyStatusOfPlaintiff | prevailing party ⓘ |
| plaintiff | Hensley NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| proceduralPosture | appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ⓘ |
| standardClarified | adjustment of lodestar based on degree of success obtained ⓘ |
| standardEstablished | lodestar method for calculating reasonable attorney’s fees ⓘ |
| statuteInterpreted | 42 U.S.C. § 1988 ⓘ |
| term | October Term 1982 ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.