L. v. New York City Department of Education

Background

L.L., individually and on behalf of S.L., a child with a disability, sued the New York City Department of Education (DOE) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). L.L. claimed to have prevailed in an administrative proceeding and sought $86,456.39 in attorney’s fees and costs under the IDEA’s fee-shifting provision. L.L. had also asserted a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, but the parties resolved that claim, so the court did not address it.

L.L. had filed a due process complaint alleging that DOE failed to provide S.L. with a free appropriate public education during the 2016–2017, 2017–2018, and 2018–2019 school years. After an administrative hearing at which DOE did not appear, the impartial hearing officer found that DOE had not shown that its recommended special-education programs provided S.L. with an appropriate education. The hearing officer ordered DOE to provide or fund several services, amend S.L.’s educational program, and refer S.L. to a non-public school. DOE did not appeal.

Court’s Analysis

The IDEA permits a court to award reasonable attorney’s fees and costs to a prevailing party. The parties did not dispute that L.L. was a prevailing party. The dispute concerned the amount of the award and whether the award should be reduced because of DOE’s conduct.

The court rejected L.L.’s argument that DOE unreasonably prolonged the final resolution of the matter. The court found insufficient support for the claimed delays involving DOE’s due process response and implementation of the hearing officer’s relief. It also held that DOE’s failure to agree to provide the requested relief before the hearing was ordinary hearing preparation, not unreasonable prolongation.

The court calculated reasonable fees by reducing the requested hourly rates. It approved rates of $360 per hour for senior attorneys Andrew Cuddy and Jason Sterne, $300 per hour for Kevin Mendillo, $200 per hour for Benjamin Kopp, and $100 per hour for paralegals. It approved a $150 hourly rate for Mendillo’s travel time.

The court also reduced billed time. It reduced time spent drafting the due process complaint to four hours for Mendillo and five hours for Kopp; cut hearing-preparation time by half; reduced Mendillo’s time on the closing brief to fifteen hours; reduced his travel time to one and a half hours each way; and reduced time spent on the federal fee action from 60.9 hours to 30 hours. The court allowed certain conferences with L.L. because it found them reasonably related to the administrative proceeding. It also reduced or deducted specified copying, lodging, parking, meal, mileage, toll, and fax expenses.

Disposition

Judge J. Paul Oetken’s conclusion states that L.L.’s motion for summary judgment was granted in part and denied in part. The court awarded $33,239.49 in attorney’s fees and costs, directed the clerk to close the motion at Docket Number 25, and directed the clerk to close the case.