H.C. v. New York City Department of Education

Background

H.C., the parent of J.C., a child classified by the Department of Education’s Committee on Special Education as a student with autism, brought two administrative proceedings under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The first proceeding alleged that J.C. had been denied a free appropriate public education during the 2016–17 and 2017–18 school years. The hearing officer ordered the Department to fund an independent neuropsychological evaluation and authorize occupational, physical, and speech-language therapy.

The second proceeding concerned the 2018–19 school year and challenged J.C.’s individualized education program. The hearing officer ordered the Department to place J.C. in a New York State-approved non-public school and provide 300 hours of applied behavioral analysis tutoring over three years. The Department later failed to complete the placement by the stated deadline, but the parties settled the claims concerning that failure to implement the order.

H.C. and J.C. then sought attorneys’ fees and costs for the two administrative proceedings and this federal case. They requested $92,531.19. The Department did not dispute that they were prevailing parties entitled to seek reasonable fees and costs for the administrative proceedings, but argued that the requested hourly rates and time were excessive. It also argued that fees and costs incurred after its October 7, 2020 written settlement offer of $40,000.01 should not be awarded.

Court’s analysis

The IDEA permits a court to award reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs to a prevailing party. The court calculated the presumptively reasonable fee by multiplying reasonable hourly rates by the number of reasonably expended hours.

The court set the hourly rates at $300 for Kevin Mendillo’s legal work, $150 for his travel time, $360 for senior attorneys Michael J. Cuddy, Andrew Cuddy, and Jason Sterne, $200 for Charles Rooker, $100 for Joanna Fox, and $100 for each listed paralegal. These rates were lower than some of the rates Plaintiffs requested.

The court reduced the hours claimed for the first administrative proceeding by 20 percent, finding that some time spent preparing the due-process complaint and performing administrative or clerical tasks was excessive or not compensable. It also reduced Mendillo’s travel time. The court applied a 20 percent reduction to the hours claimed for the second administrative proceeding because the complaint repeated much of the first complaint, some tasks were administrative, and the proceeding was narrower.

For the federal litigation, the court applied a 20 percent reduction to the claimed hours. It did not award attorney time for service of process. It also denied fees and costs incurred after October 7, 2020, because the court calculated that the fees and costs recoverable through that date totaled $37,984.40, less than the Department’s $40,000.01 settlement offer.

The court reduced claimed expenses for lodging, mileage, parking, photocopying, and faxing. It awarded $996.91 in costs as stated in the opinion’s discussion, including copying, travel, postage, and the federal filing fee. The court also granted Plaintiffs’ request for post-judgment interest.

Disposition

Judge James L. Cott granted the motion to the extent that he awarded Plaintiffs’ counsel $38,951.31 in attorneys’ fees and costs, plus post-judgment interest. He directed the Clerk to enter judgment in Plaintiffs’ favor, terminate all open motions, and close the case.