Evans

This case involves contested attorneys’ fees awarded to Plaintiffs under the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”). During the pendency of Plaintiffs’ action, the result of other related litigation rendered the Plaintiffs’ litigation moot. Plaintiffs’ request for fees is based on the theory that their lawsuit was a catalyst to bringing about Defendants’ voluntary change of conduct and Defendants’ revised interpretation of Section 4(b)(2) of the Endangered Species Act.

Plaintiffs pursued this action against the Secretary of Commerce and the National Marine Fisheries Service (“NMFS”) alleging that Defendants had violated various provisions of the ESA when the NMFS designated certain lands in California and in the Pacific Northwest as critical habitats without conducting an adequate economic impact analysis. The ease was dismissed as moot, after Defendants had settled a separate, but related case in another district, resulting in a remand of the designations of the very same critical habitats at issue in this case. Plaintiffs filed a motion for attorneys’ fees and costs, arguing that although this case had been dismissed as moot, bringing the suit still resulted in Plaintiffs having…