文章基本信息

标题：City of Riverside v. Rivera, a Windfall for Civil Rights Attorneys
本地全文：下载
作者：Heier, Gregory Scott
期刊名称：Nebraska Law Review
出版年度：1987
卷号：66
期号：4
页码：8
出版社：University of Nebraska - Lincoln
摘要：City of Riverside v. Rivera is the Supreme Court's latest attempt to define a "reasonable" attorney's fee under the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Awards Act (Fees Act). In Rivera, the Court affirmed a fee award of approximately $245,000 despite the fact that the plaintiffs recovered only $33,350 in damages. In so doing, the Court missed an opportunity to provide a measure of objective force to the definition of a reasonable attorney's fee. The purpose of this Note is to examine the guidelines for determining a reasonable attorney's fee under the Fees Act. First, the Note will examine the legislative history of the Fees Act as well as judicial interpretation of the definition of a reasonable fee. Second, the various opinions filed in Rivera will be outlined and analyzed. Finally, the Note proposes legislative reform that would require a more objective definition of reasonableness.