Cruz Ex Rel. Cruz v. Alhambra School Dist.

ORDER RE: ATTORNEY FEES AND COSTS

Contrary to the Supreme Court’s hope that attorneys’ fees motions not become a “second major litigation,” this matter presents precisely such a situation. The parties have filed thousands of pages of papers in battling over the appropriate fees to be awarded to Plaintiffs after they successfully concluded this Title IX matter through settlement. The fighting has ranged from the reasonableness of Plaintiffs’ overall claimed hours down to the ability to recover $1.34 for a bottle of water purchased during travel to a status conference.

In addition to the initial motion for fees, Plaintiffs filed a Rule 59(e) motion for reconsideration and ultimately appealed the Court’s determination of fees. The Ninth Circuit then vacated and remanded for recalculation. Pursuant to the Ninth Circuit’s mandate, this Court has pending before it Plaintiffs’ request for attorneys’ fees incurred in litigating this matter prior to the filing of the Rule 59(e) motion. Also pending before this Court is Plaintiffs’ motion for attorneys’ fees and costs incurred on remand.

Upon consideration of the parties’ papers and the case file, the Court hereby rules as follows.

I.…