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Second Circuit Review: Second Circuit Expands Definition Of ‘Prevailing Party’ for Attorney’s Fees
December 23, 2009 Full PDF
Litigation partners Marty Flumenbaum and Brad Karp's "Second Circuit Review" column appeared in the December 23 issue of the New York Law Journal. The article discusses Perez v. Westchester County Dep't of Corr., in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a district court decision holding that a party to a private settlement, whose terms are incorporated into an order of dismissal, is a prevailing party under a fee-shifting statute governing civil rights actions and therefore eligible for attorney's fees. The Second Circuit's decision expands the circumstances in which a settling party may be considered a "prevailing party" and thus eligible for attorney's fees. The decision was a case of first impression for the Second Circuit, which had never previously considered whether an order of dismissal incorporating settlement terms was sufficient to constitute a judicial imprimatur and thus support a grant of attorney's fees. Litigation associate Sharon Sorkin assisted in the preparation of this column.