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

Background

Y.S., individually and on behalf of her children Y.F. and S.F., moved under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for attorneys’ fees and costs incurred in three proceedings: (1) an administrative proceeding concerning S.F.; (2) an administrative proceeding concerning Y.F.; and (3) this federal action to enforce the administrative decisions. The opinion states that the Department of Education did not dispute that both children were classified as disabled or entitled to a free appropriate public education, and did not dispute that Y.S. was a prevailing party for purposes of a fee award.

The S.F. administrative proceeding ended with a final order in S.F.’s favor. The Y.F. proceeding resulted in an order specifying relief for Y.F. In the federal action, the court issued a preliminary injunction requiring the Department to find a nonpublic school placement for Y.F. The court later sanctioned the Department for failing to comply with that injunction. The parties then resolved the children’s primary claims, leaving attorneys’ fees and related costs for decision.

Requested Fees and Costs

Y.S. initially sought $250,487 in fees and costs before interest. The request included work by attorneys and paralegals in the two administrative proceedings, travel time, work in the federal action, and costs such as printing, postage, transportation, lodging, meals, filing fees, and transcript fees.

Under the IDEA, a court may award reasonable fees and costs to a prevailing parent of a child with a disability. The court used the lodestar method, which calculates fees by multiplying a reasonable hourly rate by the number of hours reasonably spent.

Hourly Rates and Hours

The court awarded hourly rates of $425 for Andrew Cuddy, Michael Cuddy, and Jason Sterne; $300 for Kevin Mendillo and Benjamin Kopp; and $200 for Katherine Aquino-Melendez and Britton Bouchard. It awarded $125 per hour for Shobna Cuddy, Amanda Pinchak, Sarah Woodard, and John Slaski, and $100 per hour for the remaining non-attorney timekeepers. Benjamin Kopp’s travel time was compensated at $150 per hour.

The court awarded no fees for the de minimis, or very minor, clerical work performed by Justin Coretti and Erin Murray. It also reduced the hours billed for the two administrative proceedings by 10%, finding that some time spent drafting the administrative complaints and preparing for a hearing was excessive. The court did not reduce the hours billed for the federal action.

Costs

The court rejected the requested fax costs because the record did not show that faxing was necessary. It reduced printing costs to $0.15 per page. It awarded the claimed transportation, postage, meals, lodging, filing, and transcript costs because the Department had not shown that those expenses were unreasonable.

Declaratory Relief and Interest

The court denied Y.S.’s request for a declaration that the Department unreasonably delayed resolution of the proceedings. As to Y.F., the court found that the relevant claims had been dismissed with prejudice except for the fee motion. As to S.F., the court found no ongoing controversy requiring declaratory relief.

The court also declined to award prejudgment interest, concluding that the modified award adequately compensated Y.S. The court awarded post-judgment interest at the applicable statutory rate.

Disposition

The court granted Y.S.’s motion for attorneys’ fees and costs. It awarded $175,398.50 in attorneys’ fees and $2,296.40 in costs, for a total of $177,694.90, plus post-judgment interest at the statutory rate from the date judgment is entered. The application for a declaratory judgment and prejudgment interest was denied. The Clerk was directed to enter judgment, terminate the motion, and close the case.