A.B. v. New York City Department Of Education

Background

A.B. and S.V. are the parents and natural guardians of G.B., whom the opinion identifies as a twenty-year-old girl diagnosed, among other things, with a FOXP1 gene mutation. In August 2018, the plaintiffs, represented by Spencer Walsh Law, requested a due-process hearing under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), alleging that G.B. had been denied a free appropriate public education.

The impartial hearing officer ruled for the plaintiffs on February 10, 2019, awarding tuition reimbursement and transportation costs. The New York City Department of Education did not appeal, so that decision became final on March 22, 2019. The Department initially reimbursed $125,050 and later paid the remaining $5,303.55 after the plaintiffs filed this federal action seeking payment and attorneys’ fees.

Fee standards and parties’ positions

The IDEA permits a court to award reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs to a prevailing party. The Department did not dispute that the plaintiffs were prevailing parties entitled to seek reasonable fees for the 2017–2018 and 2018–2019 school years. It argued, however, that the hourly rates and number of hours requested were excessive or unreasonable.

The court calculated the fee award using the lodestar method: a reasonable hourly rate multiplied by the number of reasonably expended hours. In setting rates, the court considered prevailing market rates and case-specific factors, including the attorneys’ experience, the work required, and the results obtained.

Hourly rates

The court awarded the following rates:

- Tracey Walsh: $400 per hour for legal work and $200 per hour for travel. - Anna Belle Hoots: $150 per hour before February 8, 2021, and $175 per hour on and after that date. - Tracey Discepolo: $200 per hour. - Jennifer Ratcliff: $280 per hour. - Lauren Druyan: $280 per hour. - Hermann Walz: $300 per hour. - Christopher Barnett: $300 per hour. - Named paralegals Camarena, Carey, Mannion, and Sanyal: $125 per hour each. - The unnamed paralegal listed in the timesheets: $100 per hour.

Hours and fee calculation

For work connected with the administrative proceeding, the court found the billed hours reasonable, including limited post-decision work related to implementing the relief obtained. It awarded $15,278.15 for that work.

For federal-court work performed before December 10, 2020, the court found the billed hours reasonable and awarded $7,556.25. The court rejected the Department’s objection that the number of internal communications was excessive.

For work on the attorneys’ fee motion beginning December 10, 2020, the court found Walsh’s and Hoots’s hours excessive. It reduced their hours by 50 percent, finding that the reduction achieved a reasonable result. The opinion’s reproduced chart is incomplete, but the court’s stated total award for attorneys’ fees was $34,988.65.

Costs and oral argument

The plaintiffs requested costs and disbursements but did not submit an itemization. The court therefore did not award costs at that time. The court also denied the plaintiffs’ separate motion for oral argument, finding that it had enough information to decide the fee dispute.

Disposition

In A.B. et al. v. New York City Department Of Education, Judge Stewart D. Aaron granted in part and denied in part the plaintiffs’ motion for attorneys’ fees and awarded $34,988.65 in attorneys’ fees. The order did not award costs at that time and directed the parties to appear for a remote telephone conference concerning the remaining issues in the case.