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Feb 23, 2010

Justices Seemed Sympathetic To Government In Ratliff

From the National Law Journal:

A majority of the Supreme Court appeared sympathetic on Monday to the Obama administration's arguments that attorney fee awards under a key fee shifting statute belong to the clients, not the attorneys who earn them, and the awards can be offset to pay debts owed to the government.

In Astrue v. Ratliff, Assistant to the Solicitor General Anthony Yang and James Leach of Rapid City, S.D., sparred over what each claimed was the "plain meaning" of the Equal Access to Justice Act. The act awards attorney fees and expenses to "a prevailing party other than the United States" in any civil action against the government unless the court finds the government's position was "substantially justified" or an award would be unjust.

The government is urging the high court to overturn a ruling by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (pdf) which, counter to most courts that have ruled on the issue, held that the fee award belongs to the prevailing party's attorney and cannot be used to offset the client's government debts.

Here is the transcript of the oral argument if you wish to read it.

4 comments:

  1. This makes me think of the Bankruptcy Code, where tax liens trump all.

    As for priority, domestic support obligations (enforced by the government) come first.

    After that come "administrative expenses." The lawyers get paid under this, but it's really to make sure the trustee gets paid.

    However, this is only because there could never be a bankruptcy without a trustee. (i.e. the Bankruptcy Code would be completely useless without it, which would defeat the public policy behind it)

    I'm not familiar with the policy behind EAJA. What a tangle.

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  2. I always like coming over to your blog, your blogs are so informative and it is nicely done. thanks alot.

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  3. Anytime I hear an attorney argue "constructive trust," I know the attorney has lost the case.

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  4. The drone trawlers speak out again... about absolutely nothing, as usual.

    Thanks for adding nothing.

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