Center for Environmental Health v. Wheeler
- Saundra Armstrong
- 4:18-cv-03197
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 5
In Center for Environmental Health v. Wheeler, Judge Armstrong extended plaintiffs’ deadline to seek attorneys’ fees and costs to 90 days after the settlement order.
The plaintiffs received additional time to seek attorneys’ fees and costs; the federal defendants retained their defenses concerning entitlement to and the reasonableness of any fee request. CropLife America did not oppose the extension.
What happened
Center for Environmental Health, Center for Biological Diversity, and Californians for Pesticide Reform asked to extend the deadline for seeking attorneys’ fees and litigation costs. The parties said settlements had resolved all claims in the case, leaving fees and costs as the remaining issues.
The plaintiffs and federal defendants jointly requested 90 days from the court’s order putting the second settlement into effect to file a fee motion and bill of costs. CropLife America, the intervening defendant, did not oppose the request. The federal defendants did not concede that the plaintiffs were entitled to fees.
Judge Armstrong found good cause and ordered that the deadline be extended to 90 days after the court’s order effectuating the second settlement agreement.
The detailed version
- Center for Environmental Health v. Wheeler · No. 4:18-cv-03197
- Saundra Armstrong
- Apr. 13, 2022
Background
The plaintiffs alleged violations of duties under Section 7(a)(2) and Section 7(d) of the Endangered Species Act, as well as unlawful withholding or unreasonable delay under Section 706(1) of the Administrative Procedure Act. The parties entered a first stipulated partial settlement concerning procedural duties, and later submitted a second settlement concerning the remaining claims. The motion states that the settlements resolved all claims in the complaint, leaving attorneys’ fees and litigation costs as the only outstanding issues.
Requested extension
Under the applicable rules and statutes, the plaintiffs’ deadlines to seek fees and costs would otherwise run from the entry of judgment or final judgment. The plaintiffs and federal defendants jointly asked for 90 days from the court’s order effectuating the second stipulated partial settlement agreement. They said the additional time would allow them to try to resolve fees and costs without further court involvement. CropLife America did not oppose the request. The federal defendants reserved all defenses concerning whether fees were owed and whether any requested fees were reasonable.
Ruling
Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong ordered that the plaintiffs’ deadline to file a motion for attorneys’ fees and costs and a bill of costs be extended to 90 days from the court’s order effectuating the second stipulated partial settlement agreement. The order did not decide whether the plaintiffs were entitled to fees or costs.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.