Lopez

ORDER AWARDING ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND COSTS; AND REVIEWING TAXATION OF COSTS

The parties have settled this disability access case, but have been unable to agree on the appropriate amount of fees and costs to be awarded to counsel for plaintiffs. This order provides that determination.

The settlement in this case represents the resolution of long, hard-fought litigation based on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and parallel state laws, focused on access for disabled students to school facilities in the San Francisco Unified School District. The settlement agreement, a Stipulated Judgment, provides substantial and important benefits for disabled students in the District. In the course of this litigation, the District itself identified over 50,000 instances in which the District’s schools failed to comply with federal or state access guidelines. The Stipulated Judgment requires the District to bring the facilities in 96 schools and child development centers into compliance with ADA Accessibility Guidelines, and establishes an enforceable timetable for compliance. The parties estimate the cost of the access work to be in excess of $100 million.

The ADA provides prevailing…