S.J. v. New York City Department of Education

Background

S.J. brought the action individually and on behalf of K.H. under the fee-shifting provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. S.J. had initiated an administrative due-process hearing alleging that the Department of Education denied K.H. a free appropriate public education during the 2016–17 and 2017–18 school years. The impartial hearing officer issued a decision in S.J.’s favor.

S.J. later sought fees and costs for the administrative proceeding and the federal litigation. The initial request totaled $72,210.77, including prejudgment interest. The Department of Education did not dispute that S.J. was a prevailing party entitled to seek reasonable fees and costs, but argued that the requested rates and hours were excessive or unreasonable.

Hourly Rates and Compensable Hours

The recommendation applied the “lodestar” method, which generally calculates a reasonable fee by multiplying a reasonable hourly rate by the number of reasonably expended hours. It recommended rates of $360 per hour for attorneys Andrew Cuddy and Michael Cuddy, $180 per hour for Michael Cuddy’s travel time, $200 per hour for Benjamin Kopp, $125 per hour for most paralegals, and $100 per hour for O’Donnell.

For the administrative proceeding, the recommendation excluded or reduced certain entries, including duplicative work and excessive travel time. It recommended $16,617.50 in administrative-proceeding fees.

For the federal litigation, the recommendation found that the 112 hours claimed were excessive because the litigation concerned the amount of the fee award and involved a straightforward issue. It recommended a 50% reduction in attorney hours and awarded $13,894.50 for federal-court fees. It also declined to compensate time spent serving process and time billed for advice to an unrelated client.

Costs and Prejudgment Interest

The recommendation declined to award lodging expenses, certain out-of-district travel expenses, fax charges at $2 per page, and photocopying at 50 cents per page. It recommended awarding $582.76 in costs.

The recommendation also advised against awarding prejudgment interest. It noted that S.J. had not cited an IDEA case in the Second Circuit awarding such interest and concluded that the recommended fees and costs adequately compensated counsel.

Recommendation and Procedure

Magistrate Judge Stewart D. Aaron recommended that the District Court grant in part S.J.’s motion and award $30,512.00 in attorneys’ fees and $582.76 in costs, totaling $31,094.76. The text does not state whether District Judge Lorna G. Schofield later adopted the recommendation. The parties were given 14 days after service to file written objections.